It probably doesn’t bother you that your waiter works part-time
and is in school full time. Part-time store clerks are perfectly acceptable.
On the other hand, you would probably think twice about a part-time
surgeon or a part-time nuclear engineer. After all, isn’t keeping
up with and refining one’s skills in a demanding field a full-time
pursuit in itself? Why then should you settle for a part-time real
estate professional?
Your home is probably your largest and most treasured
asset. Buying and selling homes involves complicated transactions,
careful marketing, skillful negotiating and a full-time professional
who has the time to network effectively on your behalf.
Among the many changes in recent years that demand
significant time from a real estate professional are the innovations
made possible by the Internet. A savvy real estate professional
today knows how-to find and market homes online and on the Internet
using a variety of techniques. Not all of these are obvious to
the average Internet user and some, such as area multiple listing
service systems, remain exclusively available to real estate professionals.
New websites are born everyday and old ones go away. Keeping up
with these changes could keep an entire team of professionals busy,
let alone a part-time real estate sales professional.
Changes in real estate marketing require a skillful
professional as well. The advances in desktop publishing and four-color
printing technology mean a wider variety of low cost and highly
targeted print advertising vehicles are available to the real estate
professional seeking to attract buyers and sellers on your behalf.
When you list your home with a real estate professional, you want
to know that they have the time to access the latest in direct
marketing technology on your behalf. Not that your real estate
professional creates the ads or sends all the letters that promote
your property, but a cost-effective marketing campaign requires
a knowledgeable decision-maker to choose the best tools from among
the myriad of marketing vehicles and technologies available today.
One of the key functions of a real estate professional
is to bring buyers and sellers together. While a local multiple
listing service provides a real estate professional with a guide
to properties currently on the market, the raw data is only the
beginning of the process of putting buyers and sellers together.
A real estate professional must spend a good deal of time becoming
knowledgeable on the communities and neighborhoods served, developing
resources to answer questions about area schools, taxes, recreational
amenities and other issues. In addition, your real estate professional
should spend countless hours on home tours becoming intimately
familiar with the details of available properties. Peer-to-peer
networking among real estate professionals is a key source of the
buyers and sellers that are matched together and a key to knowing
about properties before they even go on the market. To the extent
part time real estate professionals have less time to dedicate
to all of these tasks, they may be less well prepared to serve
your needs.
Buyers seeking highly attractive properties can lose
out on a real estate opportunity in a matter of hours if their
property search is handled haphazardly. Sellers hoping to attract
a buyer would be disappointed to know that a potential buyer saw
another home before theirs simply because their real estate professional
was unable to show the home at a convenient time.
One of the most critical roles played by your real
estate professional is in the negotiation phase. Negotiations over
the terms of a home purchase contract can be extremely sensitive.
A real estate professional needs to be available to respond quickly
and turnaround offers and counteroffers at any time.
No doubt, there are many capable real estate professionals
who for a variety of reasons are only available on a part-time
basis. Nevertheless, it is important to ask your real estate professional
whether or not they are full-time professionals and what hours
they are available.
With so much at stake, the answer to the question: ‘full-time
or part-time?” could definitely make a difference in the
choice of the right real estate professional for your needs.
A full-time real estate professional stands ready to deliver
full value in response to your home buying and selling needs.
