When deciding to put your home up for sale, it can be tempting to opt for a For Sale By Owner (FSBO) process that bypasses hiring a real estate agent. After all, the typical commission paid to a real estate agent is around 6% which adds up to a nice chunk of change in most home sales. You may think that saving this commission means you will end up making more overall on your home sale, but there are several other factors to keep in mind. Here are five major benefits of hiring a real estate agent when you sell your home:

You Will Probably Sell Much Faster

With real estate, time is money, and each extra week or month that your home sits on the market is wasted time you're not making money on your home. Real estate agents have incredibly efficient processes in place for listing, advertising, and selling your home as quickly as possible. They also know the best ways to market your home in a way that makes buyers feel an instant emotional connection to your home, which can contribute to a faster sale.

You Will Most Likely Sell for More Money

In many cases, the money you spend on your real estate agent's commission will be more than recouped by selling your home for more money. Buyers tend to trust real estate agents more and see homes that have been professionally staged, photographed, and marketed as more desirable and valuable. In fact, the average FSBO home sells for around $185,000 compared to $240,000 for homes sold by real estate agents.

The Process Will Be Much Less Stressful

By hiring a real estate agent, you are removing a huge amount of potential stress and worry from your own shoulders and paying an expert to handle these stressful tasks on your behalf. The potentially anxiety-inducing tasks your real estate agent will handle for you include scheduling showings, expertly staging your home, publishing and updating your listing, taking care of marketing and signage, scheduling your closing, negotiating with buyers' agents, and returning endless phone calls.

By hiring a professional, you will reduce your own stress and avoid the hassle of missing work, family time, and sleep in order to tackle the many tasks involved in selling your own home.

Your Home Will Be Priced Perfectly

Pricing your home appropriately is crucial to a successful sale. If you price it too high, you risk having your listing sit for weeks or months and become stale, which signals to buyers that your home is less desirable. If you price too low, you are losing out on potential profit. Your experienced real estate agent will know exactly where to price your home based on local comparables and an objective view of your home's value and appeal. They will guide you toward a pricing strategy that is aimed at selling quickly while also maximizing your profits.

Realtors Are Great Marketers

The key to selling your home quickly and at or above asking price is to market it in a way that is appealing and reaches the right kind of buyers. A qualified real estate agent has access to and knowledge of the most up-to-date real estate marketing tools and strategies. In many cases, real estate agents actually have a dedicated marketing assistant or entire team of marketers ensuring your home is photographed well and advertised in a way that brings in potential buyers and makes them interested in your home before they've even seen it.

By choosing to hire a qualified and experienced real estate agent from an agency like Celia Dunn Sotheby's International Realty, you will experience these benefits yourself, making the commission you pay well worth it in most cases.