Help of an Agent

Is the real estate agent really important?

In an age where technology and the "digital" are increasingly invading every area of ​​our daily life, including the real estate sphere, real estate agents find themselves having to wonder if people have a real need for their profession from here to next years. People are in fact confused as to why they should pay a person who reports their information concerning a specific property or area, when they are almost always at hand on the web or otherwise readily available.

Today's technology and big data have given buyers, sellers and investors access to the same information that companies and real estate agencies use, but this does not mean that real estate agents are superfluous within the real estate buying process.

Why are estate agents needed?

The reality is that real estate agents are still necessary, and will continue to be, because the process of buying and selling a property is extremely complicated for individuals who do not know the legislation and the mechanisms that regulate the buying and selling process.

While people might be able to easily find information about a house and the neighborhood in which it is located, there are many factors that are too complex to understand without the help of a real estate agent. Knowing what should be provided for in a preliminary or final deed of sale is in itself already an excellent reason to seek the help of a real estate consultant.

People can save commission money by not using a trusted real estate agent, but that doesn't mean they won't have to give up something: convenience. It may appear to be a contradiction in terms, but we trust that without an agent, the management of logistics linked to the sale or purchase of a property can become overwhelming and confusing. And often, in order to run for cover, the parties are forced to rely on improvised real estate professionals, who do not guarantee the same competence as a real estate agent, although often their parcels are even more expensive.

An agent plans appointments with buyers for visiting homes for sale, the other seller is responsible for attracting and meeting potential buyers. A real estate agent is also a valid consultancy support for a buyer or seller, because he is required to do everything necessary to follow, inform and protect his client. They can act as mediators, and not surprisingly when we talk about real estate agents, we often hear this qualification also, if the negotiations become uncomfortable or strained between the parties involved.

It is usually during the search for properties online by people, that the trigger is activated so that they are led to believe that the figure of the real estate agent is now obsolete. The information they need is in front of them, all that remains is to contact the seller and visit the property.

Well, it's not really like that! Here is how agents should behave based on this mechanism that is created in people.

How can agents demonstrate that people are wrong?

Agents should not feel threatened by information available on the web through technology, but instead should feel strengthened by the presence of such data. Quite simply, the experience of a real estate agent, when combined with the big and local data of a computer, is very valuable to customers. Let's talk about what should make the difference so that people choose to use the advice of a real estate agent, the forecast analysis.

There are many types of different forecasting that can improve the service provided by a real estate agent. If agents are more aware of consumer behavior, they can help sellers apply this information to their property listings. In this way, they will also be able to help buyers meet their expectations.

But let's go to the next level. Users' real estate research is not limited to just looking at the internal and external photographs of a home, potential buyers are very careful to analyze the location, crime rate, job opportunities and much more before taking the final decision. A good real estate agent should be able to use forward-looking analyzes to create an exact profile of what a buyer wants and identify the locations that are most likely to be suitable for it and that may be able to meet its expectations.

As for potential buyers looking for real estate investments, they usually do not have so many expectations on a personal level, but expect that the property on which they invest capital can give them the highest possible economic return. This is an opportunity for agents to go even deeper into detailing the type of real estate investment, approaching investors with forward-looking reports full of numbers, percentages and statistics.

How to carry out forecasting analyzes?

By exploiting their experience and that of their agency colleagues to carry out in-depth forecasts of income properties, the best agents will be able to diversify with respect to the vast majority of competitors. However, estimating the yields of a rental property is a complicated process, especially in a historical period when uncertainty reigns in the real estate sector.

The calculation and estimation of returns are made, even before real estate agents, by the investors themselves, who create their own spreadsheets or use appropriate tools. We mention one, unfortunately valid for now only in the United States, which allows private individuals but above all the experts to carry out very detailed forecast analyzes, and is even able to cross-check the data collected by AirBnb on short leases by private citizens: we are talking about Mashvisor.

Through this tool, investors and their real estate consultants can calculate the monthly and annual income, ROI, fixed and variable costs for each property analyzed, they can find useful data such as the employment rate in the area, the presence of schools and hospitals in a specific radius, up to a profile of the potential tenant. US realtors must use this type of tool in order to be able to answer investors' questions about returns and filter out properties that are unsuitable for their customers.

And what about our real estate agents, since such an application is not yet available in Italy? The advice is to create customized spreadsheets using and crossing data from different reliable sources, such as the OMI real estate quotes of the Revenue Agency, AgentPricing market comparative analyzes or those carried out independently using the databases of the properties sold by its real estate agency, the various Real Estate Observatories such as DreamingCaraibi and Nomisma, those of Trade Associations and real estate franchises for affiliates.

The trick is to create a history for a given property, with respect to the market value, the rental fee, the rate of appreciation of potential buyers, management fees, mortgage rates required for the purchase, ROI, and many other data. Together with this, create a photograph of the building to date and a future forecast of the same data examined over a period of years.

In addition to finding a property, investors will eventually need something equally important: tenants! Obviously, the added value of a real estate agent at this point becomes its own contact database, using which the mediator can finally put people in touch with the new owners of the properties to be made income.