With the recent NAR settlement making headlines, many landowners are likely wondering about the true value of a real estate professional. While trying to do it all yourself in an effort to save money may seem appealing on the surface, in my experience the knowledge and network that a seasoned real estate agent brings to the table are almost always well worth the price of commission.

When it comes to getting more qualified buyers in front of your property, your real estate agent or Land Professional is typically the most powerful tool at your disposal. Here are a few reasons to have a real estate agent at your side when it’s time to sell.

Expanding Your Buyer Pool With a Real Estate Agent’s Network

The Pareto Principle tells us that in many events, 80% of the results are produced from 20% of the causes or input. In the world of a land broker, 80% of our business (buying & selling) comes from 20% of our network of buyers. Most Land Professionals have a handful of buyers who are consistently eager to look at deals. Some of these buyers are long-time friends, others are investors, and some are just acquaintances met by chance through daily dealings. My point is, every agent has a small group of buyers they work with regularly. 

The Law of Large Numbers states that taking an average from a larger sample will be closer to the true average, or expected outcome, of the entire population compared to a smaller sample. In our case, the expected outcome is measured in dollars per acre. Here is where I’m going with this: More buyers = larger sample size = offers closer to market value. This is true even before we look at laws of competition and human behavior. 

Now while those principles may seem confusing, it doesn’t take a mathematician or statistician to understand this. As a seller, you want more buyers looking at your property. You want the most people possible to know your property is for sale. Moreover, you want a variety of those 20%s that produce 80% of your outcome. 

Stated simply, my 20% is probably around 5 buyers. Daily, I work closely with about 10 other Land Professionals. Let’s say they all have 5 people who are actively looking to buy. By working with me, your pool of potential buyers from me alone has expanded to 5 and then 50. 

We can extrapolate that out further since each of the Land Professionals I work with is also working with other real estate professionals in the area. There are 25,000 real estate agents in Missouri alone. Let’s take a conservative guess and say that 1/10th of them work with land buyers. That takes my 5 buyers and makes 12,500 potential buyers. Finally, National Land Realty markets nationwide with our network of 400+ Land Professionals…I’ll let you do that math.

Why an Agent is Worth it

Here are two shortcomings I have noticed in the market. First, some sellers choose to try and sell their property FSBO (For Sale By Owner) to avoid paying a commission. I get it, saving money is important. But math and experience show that you are better off selling to the masses rather than working with just your 20%. 

A great real estate agent’s network and connections are invaluable, as well as their experience and negotiation abilities. Could you sell your property and avoid paying a commission? Maybe, but in many cases, the time and effort required to do so are well worth an agent’s commission, not to mention the higher price an agent can oftentimes negotiate on your behalf.

Should You Pay a Buyer’s Agent Commission?

Second, all the news regarding the NAR settlement is creating a question among sellers: “Should I pay a buyer’s agent?” My answer would be yes. Paying a buyer’s agent means expanding the pool of potential buyers that will see your property, effectively turning your agent’s 20% into thousands of potential buyers. Expanding your market could mean getting more money at closing. 

Refusing to pay a buyer’s agent commission could also result in your property sitting for longer on the market since buyer’s agents will be less incentivized to show your property to their clients. As mentioned above, while everyone’s looking to save money, in many cases it’s worth it to pay a bit more for access to their network of qualified and willing buyers.

Everybody’s situation is different, but in many cases, working with an experienced real estate agent is the right move to make. The power of a real estate agent’s network cannot be overstated, especially when working with a nationwide brokerage like National Land Realty since you never know where a potential buyer might come from. 

If you’ve got more questions about working with a real estate professional, please feel free to contact me at Awardenburg@NationalLand.com or reach out to your local Land Professional!