Advantages of Full-Service Real Estate: What Sets It Apart?

When selling a house, one of the first things you should do is find a trustworthy, knowledgeable real estate agency. The home selling process can become a complex transaction requiring plenty of paperwork and legalities, so you need an agent's expertise to facilitate your sale.

You might discover full-service and discount realtors when looking for an agency. If they both provide real estate agent services, which one should you choose for your home's sale?

Odigo Real Estate Club has many experienced agents who help sellers in the Washington State real estate market. Here, we provide details about the different types of real estate agents and why full-service real estate comes out on top.

What Is a Full-Service Realtor?

Because selling a home typically involves a lot of paperwork, legalities, home showings, research, and other tasks, the process can be stressful for owners. Having a full-service real estate agent on your side can make things immensely easier by managing the entire process from beginning to end.

Full-service real estate agencies like Odigo Real Estate Club participate in every aspect of the home-selling process on behalf of their clients. They are always available to answer every question, address every concern, and handle the tough work that comes with property transactions.

These real estate agent services aim to provide the ultimate support during your homeownership transition. Most traditional real estate agencies have full-service agents.

Services

The number of services a full-service real estate agent can provide you during a home sale is extensive. Examples of services that they provide include:

• Professional, high-grade photography to showcase the home on listings
• Expert home valuations to accurately price the house
• Industry-leading tips on how to attract quality buyers
• Quality advertisements on websites like Zillow and the local multiple listing service
• Paperwork assistance to ensure the legal sale of the property
• Professional references and recommendations for resources like landscapers, inspectors, mortgage lenders, and so on
• World-class marketing campaign to promote the sale of the house and yield qualified buyers

Negotiation is perhaps the biggest service these real estate agents provide. An expert agent offering full real estate agent services could negotiate the sale of your home for $50,000 to $100,000 more than a similar home in your neighborhood. They can also save you two to three times their commission through negotiation, making their services worth their price.

Even if you're a home buyer and end up in a bidding war, the negotiation skills of a full-service real estate agent can ensure you stay competitive without overextending your budget. Their negotiation skills are indispensable.

Cost

Full-service real estate agents usually earn commissions from property sales. If you put your home on the market and it sells, you can expect to pay around 3% each to your listing agent and the buyer's agent.

Note, however, that the commission rates vary by location and company. Rates can be as low as 2.5% or 5% for total commission fees. Increasing home prices and stiff competition in some markets can cause real estate agencies to drop their rates even lower.

What Is a Discount Realtor?

As the name implies, discount real estate agent services refer to real estate services you can get that don't follow the usual 6% commission pay model. You can get real estate broker assistance for under 2.5% commission if the discount agent takes a commission rate at all.

However, you can expect to receive fewer services or a different standard of service and support from a discount realtor. You'll have more money in your pocket with the lower commission rate. Yet you might have to call sales leads yourself, handle your own open house, take phone calls from prospective buyers, and tackle other jobs alone.

Discount real estate doesn't operate under the traditional real estate pay scale. Instead, agents take payment in these three ways:

• They'll accept a flat fee for services.
• They'll charge a discounted commission rate for the sale, like 0.6% instead of 2.5%.
• They’ll charge a flat fee or a percentage of the sale with individually priced services you can add to your initial service package.

This option might seem attractive and cost effective, but charges can add up quickly. If you're not careful, you could unintentionally pay more for a la carte discount real estate agent services with less professional support than you would with a traditional real estate agency.

Limited Professional Realtor Services

The most common type of discounted real estate service is the limited-service agent. These realtors offer basic services for flat rates or a la carte fees. Their service ranges vary widely.

However, they may not work for anyone who wants to buy or sell a house. A lot of work goes into the home buying and selling processes.

Suppose you hire a discount company that offers the bare minimum services within their rates but allows add-on services. In that case, the amount you spend on their services can quickly exceed what you originally expected to pay. You will also likely deal solely with a customer support line instead of a dedicated agent you can meet with face-to-face.

Full-Service Discount Realtor Services

You may get full real estate services at a discount. Some companies boast smaller commissions with a broad range of services that you would typically get with a full-service real estate agency. Some agencies also provide premium services like paid digital marketing.

The lower cost of professional real estate services has a drawback. When you work with discount real estate agencies to sell or buy a home, they always look for ways to cut costs. Sometimes, that means limiting services, and in others, it means limiting service quality.

For instance, a full-service discount realty company could require you to work with a team of agents for different stages of the sale instead of a single dedicated agent. This could result in miscommunication, double paperwork, missed deadlines, and other problems if the team doesn't effectively communicate or work collaboratively.

How To Know Which Property Agent Services To Choose?

If you prefer to handle your home's sale by yourself from start to finish to maintain complete control of the process, you might benefit from discount real estate agent services. They can offer basic services like an MSL listing or home valuation at a reasonable price.

Yet traditional full-service real estate services work best for selling or buying a home. You'll get a broad range of services and a dedicated agent to manage your entire transaction.