Our belief – one of our CORE beliefs – is that consumers are best served through proper representation from a licensed professional.

For most, buying or selling a home is an infrequent transaction with enormous financial and emotional considerations.
It’s stressful, emotionally-charged and high-stakes. Having a real estate professional central to the process of pricing, listing, selling and purchasing a home is important; real estate is not entertainment, and it’s not a game – bad data, inaccurate “value estimates,” and inflating inventory levels on websites creates confusion about what’s really happening in a market.

We understand that serious consumers want the real facts about a market. And we understand that these consumers also want to find a professional who can clearly articulate what these facts mean to their personal situation.
That’s why REALTOR.com® works tirelessly to be the most accurate site with the largest database of homes for sale. And that’s why we update most listings every 15 minutes.
Consumers know they can trust the data; the quality and accuracy of the listing content is second to none.
But searching for homes and researching the market is just the beginning. Market conditions vary from city-to-city and neighborhood-to-neighborhood. So when consumers move forward and take their search from online to real-life, we help them with the next step:

Connecting with a local real estate professional that can help.
A professional that’s immersed in local trends. Well versed in neighborhood nuances. Someone who can take the science of real data and apply it to the art of local real estate.
For sellers, this professional is someone who can navigate changing markets deftly and help price a home appropriately. Someone that helps ensure a smooth ride all the way from contract acceptance to settlement.
For buyers, this professional is a sounding board during their search, and their advocate during contract negotiations all the way to the first day in a new home.

Ultimately, there is a lot more than search to consider throughout the course of a transaction.
Pricing. Negotiations. Offers. Counter-Offers. Contracts the size of novellas. Addenda. Financing. Contingencies. Walkthroughs. Punch Lists. The list goes on and on and on. Navigating all of this takes skill and determination, and licensed real estate professionals are just the folks that can help.
After all, it’s what they do for a living, 24-7, 365.

http://lockbox.realtor.com/realtor-marketing/why-consumers-need-proper-representation-from-real-estate-professionals/