As new technology disrupts the world of real estate, home sellers are growing increasingly skeptical of the value realtors bring to the dealmaking table.
But while that skepticism seems rich among sellers’ sentiments — in particular with Millennials — most will still turn to a realtor to sell their home, according to a recent survey of 1,000 soon-to-be home sellers from Clever Real Estate.
“Whether due to inexperience or overconfidence, Millennial respondents were 93 percent less likely to use a real estate agent than older generations,” the survey results read. “They were also twice as likely to say a real estate agent was unimportant or not important at all to the home selling process.”
Contradicting their responses however, 54 percent of MIllennials say they wouldn’t feel comfortable during buyer negotiations without a real estate agent’s insight and experience. In addition, 61 percent of Millennial respondents said they would feel uncomfortable finding and filling out all of the necessary paperwork on their own accord.
In addition to a lack of confidence in selling on their own, there appears to be ignorance of the traditional home selling process. For example, about 45 percent of home sellers said they didn’t realize they would be paying the buyer’s agent commission fee. Related, about 34 percent of home sellers feel that the average 6 percent commission fee is costly and unfair.
“The key takeaway is that many homeowners simply don’t understand all of the costs involved in selling a home. Real estate agents should set realistic expectations at the outset in order to avoid nasty surprises and difficult conversations further down the line,” the survey results read. “This is especially true for first-time home sellers, who were 53 percent more likely to believe home buyers pay commissions than experienced home sellers.”
As the real estate shifts considerably thanks to the rise of so-called “proptech,” sellers are growing more comfortable with the idea of new tech selling their homes. About 37 percent of survey respondents said they believe current artificial intelligence could outperform a traditional agent.
But sentiment doesn’t always translate into confidence, Clever asserted.
“About half of U.S. home sellers say they would consider using an artificial intelligence platform to seek out potential buyers and solicit offers,” the survey results read. “However, while they may believe in the value of such a technology, conceptually speaking, it seems that they don’t have full confidence in its abilities — or at least not yet.”
Providing added convenience to realtors, recent data indicates that fewer people are executing for sale by owner (FSBO) transactions. Only 7 percent of sellers sold homes for sale by owner in 2018, down from 8 percent in 2017, according to the National Association of Realtors.
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