Recently posted on the "Real Estate Advisor" section of Forbes.com, Tara Struyk brings up some very compelling reasons to use a trustworthy real estate professional.
" Buying or selling a home is a major financial (and emotional) undertaking. Find
out why you shouldn't discard the notion of hiring an agent just yet."
1.
Better Access/More Convenience
A real estate agent's full-time job is to
act as a liaison between buyers and sellers. Both the buyer's and
seller's agent work full time as real estate agents and they know what needs to
be done to get a deal together. For example, if you are looking to buy a home, a
real estate agent will track down homes that meet your criteria, get in touch
with sellers' agents and make appointments for you to view the homes. If you are
buying on your own, you will have to play this telephone tag yourself. This may
be especially difficult if you're shopping for homes that are for sale by
owner.
2. Negotiating Is Tricky Business
Many people don't like the
idea of doing a real estate deal through an agent and feel that direct
negotiation between buyers and sellers is more transparent and allows the
parties to better look after their own best interests. This is probably
true--assuming that both the buyer and seller in a given transaction are
reasonable people who are able to get along. Unfortunately, this isn't always an
easy relationship.
What if you, as a buyer, like a home but despise its
wood-paneled walls, shag carpet and lurid orange kitchen? If you are working
with an agent, you can express your contempt for the current owner's decorating
skills and rant about how much it'll cost you to upgrade the home without
insulting the owner. For all you know, the owner's late mother may have lovingly
chosen the decor. Your real estate agent can convey your concerns to the
sellers' agent. Acting as a messenger, the agent may be in a better position to
negotiate a discount without ruffling the homeowner's feathers.
A real
estate agent can also play the "bad guy" in a transaction, preventing the
bad blood between a buyer and seller that can kill a deal. An agent can help by speaking for you in
tough transactions and smoothing things over to keep them from getting too
personal. This can put you in a better position to get the house you want. The
same is true for the seller, who can benefit from a hard-nosed real estate agent
who will represent their interests without turning off potential buyers who want
to niggle about the price.
3. Contracts Can Be Hard To Handle
If
you decide to buy or sell a home, the offer to purchase contract is there to
protect you and ensure that you are able to back out of the deal if certain
conditions aren't met. For example, if you plan to buy a home with a mortgage
but you fail to make financing one of the conditions of the sale--and you aren't
approved for the mortgage--you can lose your deposit on the home and could even
be sued by the seller for failing to fulfill your end of the contract.
4. Real Estate Agents Can't Lie
If you are
working with a licensed real estate agent under an agency agreement, (i.e., a
conventional, full-service commission agreement in which the agent agrees to
represent you), your agent will be bound by common law (in most states) to a
fiduciary relationship. In other words, the agent is bound by license law to act
in their clients' best interest (not his or her own). In addition, most
realtors rely on referrals and repeat business to build the kind of clientele
base they'll need to survive in the business.
5. Not Everyone Can Save Money
Many
people eschew using a real estate agent to save money, but keep in mind that it
is unlikely that both the buyer and seller will reap the benefits of not having
to pay commissions. For example, if you are selling your home on your own, you
will price it based on the sale prices of other comparable properties in your
area. Many of these properties will be sold with the help of an agent. This
means that the seller gets the keep the percentage of the home's sale price that
might otherwise be paid to the real estate agent.
However, buyers who are
looking to purchase a home sold by owners may also believe they can save some
money on the home by not having an agent involved. They might even expect it and
make an offer accordingly. However, unless buyer and seller agree to split the
savings, they can't both save the commission.
The Bottom
Line
While there are certainly people who are qualified to sell their own
homes, taking a quick look at the long list of frequently asked questions on
most âfor sale by ownerâ websites suggests the process isn't as simple as
many people assume. And when you get into a difficult situation, it can really
pay to have a professional on your side.
- excerpt from original
article by Tara Struyk