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Helpful Information, CareersPublished January 12, 2026
What People Think Real Estate Agents Do… vs. What We Actually Do
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What People Think Real Estate Agents Do… vs. What We Actually Do
(A candid look behind the scenes of professional real estate work)
If you ask most people what a real estate agent does, you’ll usually hear something like:
• “Put the house on Zillow.”
• “Take some pictures.”
• “Host an open house.”
• “Show the home and collect the offer.”
Simple, right?
Not quite.
There’s the public side of real estate — the part buyers and sellers can see — and then there’s the 95% that happens quietly behind the scenes to protect clients, prevent deals from falling apart, and keep everyone legally safe.
So let’s pull the curtain back a bit.
Here’s what people think agents do…
versus what professional agents actually do every single day.
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1. “Agents just take pictures and list the home online.”
What actually happens: 37 steps before your listing even goes live.
Most homeowners don’t realize how much prep happens before the sign even hits the yard:
✔ Pricing strategy tailored to your street, not your ZIP code
✔ Market timing analysis
✔ Staging prep + itemized recommendations
✔ Contractor coordination (cleaning, repairs, touch-ups, trades)
✔ Scheduling photography + videography
✔ Reviewing title history
✔ Verifying disclosures
✔ Identifying city requirements (C of O, POS, septic, well testing, etc.)
This is the “invisible” work that sets the entire sale up for success — or failure.
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2. “Agents show the house and wait for offers.”
What actually happens: Your agent is managing dozens of moving parts at once.
Serious agents juggle all of this at the same time:
• Coordinating and tracking showings
• Following up with every agent for feedback
• Identifying buyer patterns
• Adjusting strategy in real time
• Managing appointment windows
• Ensuring safety and access
• Screening for unqualified buyers
• Protecting your home and belongings
It’s not passive.
It’s proactive, organized, and constant.
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3. “Agents just negotiate a price.”
What actually happens: We negotiate everything — and it affects your bottom line.
A negotiation isn’t just:
💲 price.
It’s also:
✔ possession timeline
✔ appraisal terms
✔ inspection concessions
✔ repair responsibilities
✔ buyer financing strength
✔ offer structure
✔ risk mitigation
✔ EMD strength
✔ occupancy credits
✔ closing date strategy
A strong agent can protect — or lose — thousands of dollars in these tiny details.
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4. “Once the offer is accepted, the hard part is over.”
What actually happens: This is when the real work begins.
Here’s where most FSBOs and discount brokers fall apart:
• Inspection issues
• Appraisal delays
• Title defects
• Uncommunicative lenders
• Missing documents
• Last-minute buyer issues
• HOA complications
• Municipal requirements
• Addendums
• Repairs
• Scheduling trades
• Clearance and re-inspections
• Monitoring lending milestones
• Confirming underwriting
• Preventing closing delays
• Protecting the EMD
This is the part no seller sees — but it’s exactly where most deals die without strong representation.
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5. “Agents take a commission for a few hours of work.”
What actually happens: A full-service team does 100+ coordinated tasks per transaction.
Professional agents handle everything from:
📄 managing legal contracts
📞 coordinating with multiple agencies
🏡 protecting your property
🛠 troubleshooting inspection fallout
💬 maintaining communication across 5–7 parties
📅 keeping deadlines from slipping
🔍 anticipating issues before they arise
🔥 resolving crises sellers never even know happened
Full-service real estate is risk management, marketing, project management, negotiation, and legal oversight wrapped into one.
The commission isn’t for what you see.
It’s for everything that protects you that you don’t see.
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6. “I could sell my home myself.”
You absolutely could — but here’s why most choose not to.
FSBO sellers usually discover challenges quickly:
• Agents won’t show the home
• Buyers expect a discount
• Unqualified buyers waste time
• Paperwork gets overwhelming
• Inspections become adversarial
• Deals fall apart
• Communication breaks down
• They lose money in concessions
• The stress becomes a full-time job
You can do it alone.
But you also can change your own brake pads.
Most people choose not to.
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7. “Agents don’t do anything special — houses sell themselves.”
What actually happens: The wrong strategy costs you far more than the commission ever would.
Data from Michigan MLS trends shows:
📊 Well-marketed homes
sell faster, with fewer concessions,
and for 8–12% more on average.
That’s your equity.
That’s your future.
And that’s exactly what a professional protects.
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So… what does a great agent actually do?
A great agent handles:
• The strategy
• The marketing
• The negotiations
• The logistics
• The legal protections
• The communication
• The risk
• The stress
• The fallout
• The entire process start to finish
Your only job?
Make decisions — not do the work.
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Thinking about selling in 2026?
Whether you’re weeks, months, or a year away, we can help you:
✔ Track your neighborhood
✔ Know your true market value
✔ Understand timing
✔ Strategize repairs
✔ Avoid overpricing
✔ Prevent inspection issues
✔ Protect your equity
✔ Lower your stress
No pressure.
No commitment.
Just clarity.
The Jason Matt Team — Metro Detroit’s high-touch, high-service, no-excuses real estate team.
Are you buying or selling a home?
When are you planning on buying a new home?
Are you pre-approved for a mortgage?
Would you like to schedule a consultation now?
When are you planning on selling your home?
or another way