‍

What purpose does a real estate agent serve during the process of someone trying to flip a home? Why do people not just buy and sell the house independently? What does the real estate agent do that someone can not do themselves? - Question on Quora.com

A real estate agent can be a valuable asset to your house flipping team that can help you throughout the house flipping process. A real estate agent can help you finding deals, running comps, negotiating with buyers and sellers and marketing your properties: Here are the top 10 things a real estate agent can help you with on your house flip:

#1 Finding Deals

Often times real estate agents can get ‘pocket listings’ on off market deals that haven’t been listed yet, so you can get access to deals before your competition.

#2 Negotiating with Sellers

A solid real estate agent can help you negotiate your offer with the home seller which could save you thousands off the purchase price.

#3 Pulling Comps

A real estate agent can help initially run comps on a neighborhood to help you evaluate the After Repair Value and valuation of your property. Once you finish your flip your agent can run comps to establish a sale price that will result in a quick sale for the top dollar amount.

#4 Design Trends

A real estate agent has a pulse on the market and knows the trendy amenities and finishes home buyers are looking for in today's market, so if you real estate agent has a good eye for design they could provide helpful design insight that your buyers will love.

#5 Listing Your Flip on the MLS

One of the biggest benefits of listing with a real estate agent (vs FSBO) is that agents can market your flip to thousands of potential home buyers on the MLS.

#6 Marketing / Open Houses

Putting your property on the MLS is one of the easiest ways to market your property to thousands of potential home buyers, but a good agent will also spend their time and money marketing your property by posting on social media, creating flyers and hosting open houses.

#7 Negotiating with Buyers

Once you get your property listed and the offers start rolling in, a real estate agent can help negotiate with home buyers to help you get the best offer and most money from the sale.

#8 Paperwork

Real estate transactions involve lots of paperwork. A real estate agent can organize the paperwork process for you and have all of your paperwork completed and ready to sign on closing day.

#9 Community Advocate/Word of Mouth

If you have a good reputation in your local community of building high quality homes with exceptional craftsmanship, your agent can be one of your biggest community advocates and help spread the word about your business which inevitably can get you more deals and help grow your business.

#10 Industry Contacts

A real estate agent might have industry contacts with contractors, title companies, lawyers, etc that you could use on your projects.

‍

View Original Question on Quora