Why Realtors are like Doctors and why you can’t Self-Medicate

The main purpose of this article is to draw an analogy between Realtors and doctors in the sense that both are professionals and that we should consult with them regularly for expert advice. If you believe we need expert advice from doctors, then so too do we need expert advice from Realtors.
This article has an apologetic tone to it for many reasons. The first is that the increased transparency of homes for sale empowers consumers to research homes in advance. This allows a more informed user. The same has happened for medical issues being available online. People can search for their symptoms and try to make conclusions about their health from their research.
If you have ever had symptoms and used search engines to identify what you could be suffering from, you can imagine it is a terrifying process. It is terrifying because there are so many uncertainties involved about self-diagnosing that we don’t have enough empirical knowledge or the background knowledge to come to a definitive diagnosis. So what do we do? We end up either acting on a false belief or we set the appointment with the doctor.
If we do the former, we do a self-medication. Suppose we had a viral infection and we think we have a bacterial infection. And suppose further that based on our false belief, we take antibiotics, hoping the infection goes away. Since antibiotics don’t work against viruses, we’re left with all the side-effects of taking antibiotics without the benefit of the cure.
So now let us return to the topic of real estate. When first time home buyers or not savvy persons of real estate think it is good idea to buy or sell the house themselves, it’s clear that they have their own best interests in mind, but it’s not clear that a professional has their best interests in mind. When the buyer/seller is self-represented and the other party has representation, the unrepresented party might ask help from that professional, but there’s no guarantee that that agent will help the other party out of generosity or other virtues.
I have had many sellers with whom I fill out forms, and it is sobering to see my sellers skip or flat out omit information on their disclosures because they don’t want to disclose something. They fear that disclosing something might lower the final price of their home. And they may be right. But when the property condition is not what the other party thinks, it’s a no-brainer that the price reduction in disclosing the material fact is far cheaper than the cost of damages in a lawsuit for the failure to disclose.
Putting the legal aspects aside, the seller/buyer needs to do the right thing and disclose the material facts of the property. The professional Realtor is there to make sure that happens.
I can’t stress enough how important the counsel of a real estate professional really is. A 30 day close requires a lot of coordination and precision among the parties and many things can be missed as a result. A do-it-yourselfer might try selling the house themselves, but any delays in the process could be costly, resulting in per diem fees owed to the other party.
In any event, I hope I have drawn the analogy well between Realtors and doctors and I hope you will find the time to consult your professionals as needed when the time comes.