Key Details:
- According to a new report from the National Association of Realtors®, nearly 90% of homebuyers and sellers used a real estate agent from June 2023 to June 2024.
- Meanwhile, a record-low 6% of sellers chose the for-sale-by-owner (FSBO) route.
- The report highlights high satisfaction rates, with 88% of buyers and 87% of sellers willing to recommend their agents.
Despite all the lawsuits and horror stories about subpar agents, buyers and sellers alike value the services provided by committed and conscientious real estate professionals.
Want the data that proves it?
The National Association of Realtors® (NAR) recently published its 2024 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers. Here, we’re focusing on the data relating to buyer and seller relationships with real estate agents:
- Why 90% of home sellers and 88% of buyers chose to work with an agent
- What buyers and sellers prioritize when shopping for an agent
- Why the median sale price for for-sale-by-owner (FSBO) sellers is so much lower than for agent-assisted sellers
Read on to refresh your knowledge of what buyers and sellers are looking for in an agent, as well as to gain insight into how you can earn the trust and confidence of sellers considering the for-sale-by-owner route.
To that end, watch Tuesday’s Hot Sheet for a script you can use to show your value to a FSBO seller and help them get the maximum value for their home.
Buyers and Real Estate Agents
As has been the case for decades, real estate agents played a critical role in the homebuying process from June 2023 to June 2024. Nearly nine out of ten buyers (86%) hired an agent to assist them in finding and purchasing a home, making agents the highest of all information sources relied upon in the home search process.
Eighty-eight percent of all home purchases during this period were made with the help of a real estate agent or broker, reinforcing the continued importance of agents to homebuyers.
The same percentage (88%) of buyers who hired an agent would use their agent again or recommend that agent to others.
Nearly 90% of buyers who worked with a real estate agent said they were satisfied with their agent’s responsiveness, knowledge of the home purchase process, honesty and integrity, market knowledge, and people skills.
Sellers and Real Estate Agents
Nine out of ten (90%) sellers sold their home with the help of a real estate agent—up from 89% one year ago. In contrast, only 6% sold their home without an agent, opting for the FSBO (for-sale-by-owner) route. And that 6% is the lowest it’s ever been.
So, despite all the recent lawsuits and aggressive behavior from the Department of Justice, even more sellers are choosing to work with an agent than last year.
As for how recent sellers found their agent:
- 66% used an agent referred to them or one they had worked with in the past to buy or sell a home
- 81% hired the first (and only) agent they contacted
- 50% used the same agent to represent them when buying or selling their home
- That percentage jumps to 71% for sellers living within 10 miles of their home purchase
Among sellers surveyed for Zillow’s report, 85% said their agents provided a wide range of services within the home sale, while 8% said their agent listed their home on the MLS but did little besides.
Recent sellers prioritized three tasks above all for their agents to perform on their behalf:
- Help market the home to potential buyers (22%)
- Price the home competitively (20%)
- Sell the home within a specified timeframe (18%)
As for agent characteristics sellers look for when selecting an agent to sell their home, agent reputation is still the most important factor (35%), followed by an agent’s trustworthiness and honesty (21%), both of which would likely determine the agent’s reputation.
With marketing among the top three services valued by recent home sellers, here are the marketing methods used by most listing agents:
- Listing their client’s home on the MLS (86%)
- Posting yard signs (61%)
- Hosting open houses (58%)
- Listing the home on Realtor.com® (49%)
- Listing the home on third-party aggregators (47%)
- Listing the home on their own website (46%)
- Listing the home on their company’s website (39%)
Seller satisfaction is high, too, with 87% of sellers saying they would probably (15%) or definitely (72%) recommend their agent for future services.
Nearly two-thirds of home sellers have recommended their agent at least once after selling their home in the last year.
Most home buyers and sellers find it valuable to use an agent who is a Realtor® to help them maneuver through the complicated homebuying and selling processes, especially in a challenging housing market. Realtors provide critical knowledge and expertise that ensure a successful transaction.
