You are considering selling your home, and you aren’t sure if you should sell with a Realtor or by yourself. Which will bring you more buyers? Think Realtors.

Some interesting things

The Association of Real Estate License Law Officials estimates that there are about 2 million active real estate agents in the US. In 2012 there were 86,000 brokerage firms.

So what are they doing? Well, the American Housing Survey said that in 2013 there was approximately 115 million occupied housing units. The average owner-occupied home was built in 1976, and the average renter-occupied home was built in 1973. Either has an average floor space of 1,500 square feet. 65% of US families owned the home they lived in. And according to the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) almost 5 million homes were sold in 2014, almost a half a million of them were newly constructed homes.

Realtors

The NAR said that as of May 31, 2015 they had 1,117,566 members. 58% percent of Realtors are licensed as sales agents, and 80% of members specialize in residential brokerage. The median number of years of experience is 12 years. Most Realtors work a 40 hour work week and have some college education, or a degree.

Message? Most are hardworking and educated past high school to some extent. They generally pay attention to technology as well. The top three technology tools that most use or plan on using are an iPad, smart phone and digital camera. 91% use social media to some extent and the top sites for Realtors to place listings are realtor.com®, Zillow and Trulia.

Interesting results

Obviously, hiring a Realtor means that you will have a qualified person helping with your home sale, but how much of a help will they be? Well, the NAR showed that 88% of buyers purchased their home through a Realtor. In a home search 51% of buyers looked for home signs, 45% used open houses, 45% used mobile apps, 42% used a search engine, 23% print ads and 89% a Realtor.

The average sales price for an agent based sale was $230,000. For sale by owner (FSBO) sales were 9% of home sales in 2013 and the average sale price was $184,000. That’s a difference of $46,000! They also don’t have the assistance of a professional who understands the process and paperwork.