When first-time home sellers begin searching for an Atlanta real estate agent to sell their home, they normally make a common mistake that costs them dearly. While their initial logic for making this flawed decision is understandable, those with the opportunity to learn from others with experience can easily save thousands of dollars and a great deal of stress.

This mistake, say real estate veterans, is choosing to bargain shop for the Atlanta area real estate agent offering the lowest commission fees. Like any service provider, the value of the service provided by different Atlanta real estate agents is far from equal. Many assume that all real estate agents provide the same services and that those who charge more simply want to keep a larger commission for themselves. In the case of top producing real estate agents, this is hardly the case.

Selling a home quickly involves resources; and those resources come with associated costs. Atlanta area real estate agents that charge bottom of the barrel fees aren’t able to apply those resources toward selling your home. When a real estate agent cannot afford to pay for the services needed to sell a home quickly, the result is often a home that sits for months on the real estate market with a steadily dropping price tag. After several months, you may be searching for a Gwinnett home rental tenant to fill your vacant home instead of buyer.

However, when a professional real estate agent sells a home, he or she doesn’t just list it on the MLS, park a sign in the lawn, and hope someone will happen to buy the home soon. On today’s Atlanta real estate market, waiting literally equates to losing money.

The Atlanta real estate agent that will sell your home quickly and for the highest asking price actively seeks out buyers who are interested in finding a home like yours. They pay sellers agent’s well so that those agents are more motivated to show your home to their buyers rather than the house down the street where the selling agent has cut commissions so low, that there is no longer any incentive for a buyer’s agent to show the home.

Karen, a highly motivated seller, learned this lesson the difficult and expensive way when she entered into a 6 month contract with her real estate agent neighbor to sell her home because she offered to charge a low commission rate. Karen and her husband needed to sell their home within 60 days to relocate for a job opportunity. If they couldn’t sell, they would have to offer their home as a Gwinnett home rental to avoid paying two mortgages.

After several weeks of next to no interested buyers, the agent began dropping the price. After 2 months, the price had dropped by $40,000 and still hadn’t sold. The couple was forced to rent a home in the new city and find a Gwinnett home rental tenant for the home they would have rather sold. In all, the cost and stress the couple ensued greatly exceeded the cost of choosing a professional Atlanta real estate agent charging a full commission.

In short, it pays to pay a real estate agent the standard commission rate rather than bargain shopping for one that chooses to cut their rate in an effort to attract business. It’s better to find an agent who can attract business because they are excellent at what they do, not because they charge the lowest rate. An Atlanta real estate agent that will protect his or her own commission will also protect the sale value of your home, not force you to offer it as Gwinnett home rental instead of a smooth sales transaction.

However, sellers won’t want to simply assume that Atlanta real estate agents charging full commission can deliver what they promise. The very best way to identify the right Atlanta real estate agent is to inquire about the number of homes the agent has personally sold within the last 12 months. There is no other metric more telling of a real estate agent’s success than this number. If you’re serious about selling your home, don’t settle for a real estate agent that sells any less than 40 homes per year.

At Realty 1st, we’re passionate about selling homes and driven by meeting our lofty sales goals while also delighting customers. In order to excel at both we take our commitment as sales agents very seriously and devote resources to targeting motivated buyers for your home. Read more about how, here in Atlanta, Realty 1st has helped thousands of sellers protect the value of their Atlanta real estate.