MYTH: Sellers should choose a 6% agent because they will spend more money on advertising.

FACT: YOUR HOME IN THE MLS AT THE CORRECT MARKET PRICE IS THE SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT FACTOR IN SELLING IT. The MLS database populates the major real estate websites such as Realtor.com, Yahoo.com, MSN.com, and the websites of most of Real Estate Companies in the Richmond Area. Print ads in local real estate magazines must be submitted weeks (or months) before they are printed, and most advertised homes are sold before these magazine hit the stands. These ads are good "lead generating" tools for Realtors, but are not how the advertised homes get sold.

MYTH: If a Realtor is successful, that means that they have a special knack for finding buyers.

FACT: REALTORS FIND THE BUYERS FOR THEIR OWN LISTINGS LESS THAN 10% OF THE TIME. Over 90% of the homes listed in the MLS are sold by a different Agent than the Agent listing the property. This is a fully understood and expected statistic among Realtors, regardless of the amount of advertising that they do. There is no magic formula that one agent has over another.

MYTH: Having a Real Estate agent is not important to the sale of a property.

FACT: REALTORS ARE IMPORTANT TO THE SALE OF YOUR PROPERTY, but not in the way that most consumers think. You need an intelligent, competent Realtor for:

Highlighting your home's best features in the MLS

Researching property sales data to determine the correct market price

Negotiating favorable contract terms

Providing information about the real estate transaction process

Dealing with unexpected pitfalls during the real estate transaction