In short, the reason is to get you a better deal than you would have gotten without one. It's really as simple as that! This means getting you exactly what you want, keeping you from what you don't want, saving you time and hassle, saving you money, making sure all papers are written to your advantage, keeping you in control, and seeing that everything is handled until the sale actually closes. Having a buyer agent is the difference between having a repair manual (seeing homes online) and having a mechanic (actually buying one). This means that if you arent in the real estate business, you wont be familiar with the ins and outs of buying a home (meaning no offense to you). You also won't be familiar with how to make it work for you. The listing agent will use this fact to get the seller a better deal at your expense. Just because an agent is likable and is driving you around doesn't automatically mean he is working for you! Unless you have an agreement otherwise, he is the SELLER'S agent, not YOUR agent, and will work to get the seller the best deal! The buyer agent works for YOU to get you what you want and get the best deal on it, PLUS this keeps you from being at a serious disadvantage with the seller and realizing six months later that you could have done better. Is the agent you are working with looking out for you? If your agent isn't your buyer representative, the answer is "NO!" A buyer agent is trained in real estate and probably works in it every day, so the agent can make sure everything works for the home buyer, such as: - Finding a "pool" of homes for sale that have the features the homebuyer wants using the sources of information the Realtor has developed
- Ablity to identify which of these homes are also sweet deals, so you don't overpay
- Getting a good idea of a houses condition and any defects it might have just by looking at it, which will save the homebuyer a lot of trouble
- Many agents preview homes for sale, so they have seen many of them in person (not just on a computer screen), know their condition, and can save you time
- Knowing what is normal and negotiating the most favorable price and terms for the home buyer, which can obviously save you thousands of dollars on your purchase
- Making sure all of the numerous necessary real estate forms and disclosures are handled and written to your advantage
- Knowledge of various companies who will work best for different situations such as title, inspections, appraisals, surveys, insurance, flood insurance, and other matters handled from acceptance to close
- Knowing a few mortgage officers who have shown themselves to be competent, hardworking, and able to do what they say up front
- Handling all the many day-to-day problems that need to be done to get the transaction completed and that most people don't have the time, willingness, or knowledge to handle. Some of these problems will delay or even derail a closing and disrupt your plans to move obviously causing you many problems and costing you money - and your moving van can't unload until all i's are dotted and t's are crossed.
How do you know that a Real Estate agent is working for the buyer? If you dont have a WRITTEN buyer representaion agreement with a real estate agent, then that agent will be working for the home seller BY DEFAULT and will get the best deal for them (maybe at your expense.) The typical scenario works like this: The Realtor says that the owner doesnt want to negotiate on terms. Why? Because he is trying to get THEM the best deal, not YOU! Is he showing you listings that arent what you want? Thats because he is trying to sell the houses that are listed with his company ONLY! (Cant blame him, thats what he is contracted to do.) Did the sellers find out that you were willing to pay full price? Thats because THEIR agent told THEM what you said! (He HAS to do this. He is THEIR agent, not YOUR agent.) You wouldnt think of going into a courtroom and trusting the other guys lawyer to be looking out for you, would you? The same idea applies to real estate agents. What are common reservations to hiring a Buyer Agent? 1. You want to do it all yourself 2. You dont want to pay for an agent 3. You dont want the hassle of dealing with an agent Consider: 1. Are you sure you know everything you need to know to get the home you want, get a good price on it, and write the papers so things work your way? Are you "in the know" when it comes to current real estate information? Do you have the pulse of the market? Do you know about real estate procedures and which forms to use? Do you have the desire to be a martyr, or the desire to buy a home? The Realtor has already learned all this, both out of the book and through experience. 2. There is usually no additional charge for a Buyer Agent to work for you the listing agent will split his fee with the Buyer agent. As a side note, if an agent works for the seller, they get paid EXACTLY the same thing, and he didn't even negotiate a better deal for you! 3. A buyer agent reduces your hassle: without one, you will spend long hours looking through ads or online listings, making calls for showings, not getting callbacks, driving out to see houses that turn out to be not what you want, feeling awkward in other peoples houses, spending time on papers, making multiple calls every day to keep things on track, dealing with lenders who need a daily nudge, requests for information (and knowing what information they are talking about), coordinating closing, running across town for documents, and doing everything at odd hours on weekends. (Ahhh, the pleasures of buying a home!) The buyer agent does all this and just reports the highlights to you. What it comes down to is this: you will be working with an agent no matter which home you buy, whether from a private owner selling his/her house through a real estate agent who represents THEM (not you), or from a builders representative (the agent who is in the sales office on the new home lot), who represents the BUILDER (not you). Or, you can work with an agent who looks out for YOU. Which do you prefer? |
