What benefits does working with a real estate team offer to you, as a homebuyer or seller, compared to going it alone or working with an individual?

Before we dive into that loaded question, it’s important to recall just how much you gain when working with any real estate professional, rather than trying to go through the process of buying or selling a home on your own.

Broadly speaking, working with an experienced, knowledgeable real estate agent will allow you to:

Negotiate More Effectively

Successfully negotiating is one of the most vital – and overlooked – aspects to buying or selling property. Over the course of the process, many details, large and small, will emerge that will require discussion and debate between numerous parties, including not just the other consumer, but also their agent and attorney, as well as the lenders, appraisers, and representatives from owners associations (or the city itself), who all tend to get involved in the process.

A real estate agent is a trained negotiator, ready to deal with each of these parties as they come forward – and put you in a position to get the best deal possible, with a minimum amount of stress!

Gain Valuable Access and Insight

A real estate agent has access to tools and services that a homeowner trying to go it alone can’t access, most notably the Multiple Listing Service (MLS), a hub for all of the real estate and housing data available at a given point in time. Included among the features of the MLS is the Private Listing Network (PLN), which lists homes that haven’t come to the broader market or that do not plan to come to the broader market.

In our experience, the MLS is a huge factor for buyers and sellers; often, the best opportunities sell within 24 hours on MLS. Not too long ago, we saw a home that received 14 offers in the first 36 hours it was on MLS – and yet it took 10 days before that same home showed up on Zillow, meaning that buyers without representation never stood a chance!

Beyond the advantages of the MLS, a real estate agent also offers a level of professional insight and experience that can’t be matched by even the best Googler; a real estate agent will know about the market conditions and trends that can make or break your transaction, preventing any major surprises from popping up and allowing you to move forward confidently, sure that you’re making the right moves.

Make Connections

Experienced real estate brokers also offer unique connections to their clients; in addition to the strong broker-to-broker relationships formed among real estate professionals who spend all their time competing and collaborating amongst one another, a real estate agent will be able to connect their client with all of the other pros necessary to buy or sell a home, including lenders, stagers, appraisers, insurance agents, and others.

Taken together, all of these factors help explain why sellers who work with a professional, rather than attempting “for sale by owner” (FSBO), have a far more lucrative sale – by more than $25,000, on average! For buyers, a real estate agent should be able to secure a 3% improvement on return, or better!

Why Work With a Real Estate Team?

So, as we’ve shown, working with a real estate agent offers numerous advantages to buyers and sellers. So why opt for a team, rather than an individual? In essence, because a team offers even more – more access, more specialization, and more flexibility.

When working with the Real Group team, you can rest assured that, at every step of the way, you’ll have at least two experienced agents working with you. This means that, we’ll be available, you have someone to call on; even if one team member can’t pick up their phone or, say, make it to a showing, you can be sure that someone else will be there and able to take over when you need guidance the most. You’d be amazed at how much this extra flexibility can streamline your entire real estate timeline!

Speaking of guidance, working with a team puts you in a better position to buy or sell, because you’ll have access to a greater pool of knowledge than any one individual can provide on their own. When working as part of a team, different agents can specialize in different types of properties or different neighborhoods, allowing them to offer greater insight when it comes to your unique home situation.

While an agent working by themselves can usually offer a pretty significant level of expertise, it is remarkable how much can be gained by consulting with someone who uniquely understands, say, what makes Rogers Park so different from Lincoln Park, or why purchasing a Wicker Park condo is different than procuring a single family home in the same neighborhood.

And while it’s certainly true what they say about having “too many cooks in the kitchen,” we feel that having a second opinion when it comes to a real estate transaction can always provide a benefit to the consumer.

With so many tricky moving parts, having a team on your side will help ensure that nothing gets lost in the shuffle; what’s more, being able to debate, discuss, and bounce ideas off of one another will also allow your agents to help you reach the best decision possible when it comes to setting a price, making an offer, or plotting out the necessary steps for a successful transaction, whether that means setting a timetable or coming up with leverage in a negotiation.

Of course, while a team offers a unique level of service and professionalism, some consumers will always prefer working with an individual – and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that!

We always feel that it’s important to vet your prospective agent or team before starting the real estate process in earnest; the experts over at Zillow offer some great ideas of questions to ask in order to get a sense of whether a team will be right for you:

“When looking to hire a team, ask them why they work together. Are they a true team looking to share expertise and resources? Or is it two agents who don’t want to work full-time so they essentially job share? Will you have one agent you work with primarily or is it always just going to be whoever answers the phone? There’s nothing wrong with either of those scenarios – but you should understand what you’re getting.”

When you’re ready to see the Real Group team in action, drop us a line! Whether you’re buying, selling, or just looking for some more insight on the Chicagoland housing market, we’re always here and ready to help!