Benefits Of Using Real Estate Agents When Buying Or Selling Home
This Article Is About Benefits Of Using Real Estate Agents When Buying Or Selling Home
With so much information on the internet and hundreds of real estate websites such as Realtor.com, Zillow.com, Redfin.com, and Trulia.com, many first time home buyers as well as veteran experienced home buyers often ask themselves why should they hire a real estate agent. There are many Benefits Of Using Real Estate Agents for both home buyers and sellers.
- Any home buyer does not have to hire a real estate agent to purchase a home or have a home under contract as long as they have a solid pre-approval letter from a lender
- With a pre-approval letter, any listing real estate agent or home seller will gladly show home and will accept their purchase offer
- However, if not represented by a real estate agent, buyers will not have a representative to act on their best interest and the Benefits Of Using Real Estate Agents
Benefits Of Using Real Estate Agents For Buyers
Real estate agents are professionals. They need to disclose defects associated with the home and by no means will there be a probability that the seller’s real estate agent mislead anyone.
- However, remember that the seller’s real estate agent only has sellers interest in mind
- Benefits Of Using Real Estate Agents for sellers is they only represent sellers best interests
- Home buyers, especially a first time home buyers, I strongly recommend they hire a real estate agent to represent them when shopping for a home
- Benefits Of Using Real Estate Agents for buyers is they do not have to pay the real estate agent anything
- Real estate agents are paid by sellers
- By not hiring a real estate agent will not save buyers any money
- Whether sellers has the listing agent get their own buyer or whether another agent brings buyers, the seller pays the same amount
- For example, if the seller is paying a 6% sales commission to sell their home, that 6% commission is split between buyer’s real estate agent and the listing agent
- If the listing agent brings his own home buyer on the property they have listed, the listing agent will keep the whole 6% commission
- The 3% split of the commission does not go to buyer nor does it get refunded to the home seller
- Most listing agents will try to sell their listings themselves
- By doing so they can keep the whole 6% commission
- However, most real estate agents are professionals who have the mission to do what is best for their clients
- Real estate agents will entertain the best purchase offer from the best-qualified home buyer
- This is whether it is their own buyers or buyers from other real estate agents
- There are Benefits Of Using Real Estate Agents and advantages of hiring a realtor than house hunting by yourself
Real Estate Agents Have Experience And Knowledge
Benefits Of Using Real Estate Agents is they know real estate and how to deal with home buyers and sellers for a living.
- They know the following:
- communities
- market prices
- geographic
- school systems
- foreclosure data
- property tax rates
- appreciation rate
- other aspects of real estate
- The key is hiring a real estate agent who you can work with and feel comfortable with
Benefits Of Using Real Estate Agents And Hiring Agent
When buyers first consult with a real estate agent, he or she will interview and take notes on the type of home that suits the family’s needs. Realtors will also ask the budget, the areas, the amenities that are important, and the school district.
- The realtor will do a regional search on all properties that might find interest buyers
- They will email buyers the listings and specs
- Buyers will then review the properties that interest them and like to physically visit
- The realtor will also do due diligence to see whether the home has been properly priced
- This is done by scanning the current comparable listings as well as the recent sales in the past 6 months to one year
Benefits Of Using Real Estate Agents for home sellers is the realtor will be qualifying the potential home buyer. Whether or not they have a solid pre-approval letter and if the pre-approval letter seems shaky, many professional realtors will call the mortgage loan originator who actually issued the pre-approval letter.
Location And Neighborhood
Location is the key when it comes to real estate.
- Realtors know the areas and neighborhoods they do business in
- Agents will know which school districts are ranked the best and know the area’s crime rates
- They will know whether a home is priced right for the particular area as well as the demographics
- For example, here is a case scenario:
- if a home looking for is priced at $400,000
- home down the street that is similar to the home buyer wants to purchase sold for $300,000
- the realtor will tell reveal why the home buyer is interested is much higher priced
- Maybe the lower priced home did not have a finished basement, pool, finished attic, and no custom features
Benefits Of Using Real Estate Agents Is They Help With Writing The Right Offer
For home sellers, listing realtor can help price home right. Benefits of using real estate agents is they have access to the MLS .
- Sellers do not want to underprice their home and equally as important, do not want to overprice their home
- Overpricing home can cause the appraiser not be able to appraise the property at the purchase price
- In most cases, if the property does not appraise, the deal will be dead at that price
- Sellers would need to lower the purchase price to the appraisal value in order for the transaction to go through unless the home buyer is willing to pay for the higher than appraised value price
- Buyers intending on purchasing the home, a realtor will guide on what to initially offer
- They request a sellers concession towards the home buyer’s closing costs
- This way buyers do not have to come out of pocket for closing costs
- If the purchase offer is too low, the home seller might get offended and not even look at the offer and not counter back
- On cases of multiple offers, a real estate agent will guide buyers in preparing a solid purchase offer that stands out from the rest where they can get the winning bid
- Realtors are professional negotiators
- Having a realtor represent buyers during negotiations, the realtor will try to get buyers and sellers the best deal and act on their best interest
Values On Home purchase
Professional Realtors are experts in market conditions.
- With home sellers, the realtor will look at comparable sales
- They analyze the recent sales in the surrounding area and discuss homes that have been priced too high and that have been sitting on the market for months
- The price sellers had in mind to sell their home may be under market value
- Sellers realtor will advise to price it higher
- The Realtor will recommend sellers on pricing home to maximize profit
- Home buyers realtor will do a price analysis from data collected on what the going price per square foot is and what the land value is
- The Realtor may also know properties that are for sale but not on the multiple service listing
- Realtors communicate with other realtors and have a network
Other Services Realtors Offer
Professional realtors have a business network of professionals.
- A Realtor can refer a mortgage lender, attorney, home inspection company, insurance agents, title companies, and other reputable professionals
- For example, if the buyer got turned down by multiple lenders due to lender overlays but meet federal lending guidelines, the realtor may refer to a lender who has no overlays and just goes off minimum federal lending guidelines
- Every lender has different mortgage requirements
- Just because home buyers get denied by one lender does not mean they do not qualify for a home loan from a different lender
- Realtors have databases of dozens of lenders
- Buyers who cannot qualify for a mortgage because the debt to income ratios are too high due to insurance premiums being too expensive, a realtor can recommend other insurance agents where the premiums may be lower
- If a home needs a well and septic inspection or termite inspection, the realtor will have access to all home inspectors.