According to the National Association of REALTOR’s 2013 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers, roughly 88% of homebuyers purchased their home through a Real Estate agent or broker. This is an increase from 2001 when it was only 69%. There are three driving forces for why using a Real Estate agent to buy or sell your home is best.

1. Real Estate Agents can provide better resources.
The average sales price of a residential property in America is $184,000 without a Real Estate agent. The average sales price with a real estate agent is $233,000. On average, a seller will make $49,000 more in gross profit by leveraging the resources of a Real Estate agent rather than opting to sell on their own.

Real estate transactions typically involve very large assets. The average American will experience 1-5 real estate transactions in their lifetime. Buying a home is such a big decision, the expertise and resources of agents help considerably with the transactional process. If a home requires repairs before being sold, you can bet an agent will know the best contractor. Real Estate agents are also familiar with the paper work, state laws and proper practices that could save the average home seller thousands in fines, repairs, other costs.

2. Using Real Estate agent helps you to learn by leveraging their knowledge.
In his latest article published in Forbes, Monte Mohr, warns, “…homebuyers should not always rely on the sometimes partial or outdated information that many online sources provide”. Real Estate agents are still the single best source for education on current market conditions and best neighborhoods. Every year, state and federal laws see major or minor changes. These changes can fly under the radar for most consumers, but not for Real Estate agents.

3. Using a Real Estate agent increases speed of implementation.
On average, an agent can sell your house quicker and for more money. When your home is listed on the Multiple Listing Service (MLS), millions of people will see your house is available for sale. Only Real Estate agents can access the MLS. Another benefit to the MLS is public sites such as Zillow.com and Trulia.com pool limited information from the MLS. This means that tens of millions of potential homebuyers can see your house for sale, no matter what real estate website they choose to search. That accessibility greatly reduces the amount of time your house sits on the market. It is a better option rather than placing a For Sale By Owner (FSBO) sign in the yard.

Real Estate agents have the resources, the expertise and the speed to sell your house, or help you find a new one.