The Benefits of Using a Real Estate Agent

The benefits of using a Real Estate Agent in purchasing a home has become more relevant than ever.

Post updated 8-26-21

When you first start out looking for a home, you know what you need, but do you know exactly where to find what you need?

It has become necessary to seek the help of a Real Estate Agent, as it is to your advantage in getting the right property and sales price for you. There are constant changes that occur almost on a daily basis.

The realtor keeps up with the changes going on in the market, the market values, and all things about the collateral for the loan.

If you are looking at homes where the property values are declining, your sales price/home value may decline also. That is only one important factor.  It is important that you know a good Real Estate Agent near you.

A Real Estate Agent is:

A licensed agent is one who has taken hours of training and testing to perform work for a Real Estate Firm. They are trained in market conditions, housing conditions, and the concept of a mortgage loan.

The agent is trained about appraisal concerns, inspections of the property, and many other aspects of real estate; to mention only some of their expertise.

Real Estate Agents are your source in finding the right home. The seller of the home usually pays the commission for the Realtor, but not always, if there are two different agents.

After you have prepared yourself for a mortgage loan and obtained a pre-qualification from a lender; it is then time to start the house search. Yes, you should know what price home you can afford prior to getting a Real Estate Agent.

There is no need to waste your time or theirs unless they tell you that they will assist you with qualification parameters.  The benefits of using a Real Estate Agent will always outweigh not using one.

You May Need to Compromise

For instance: we often see all the pastries at the restaurant, and we think we can eat the largest one, only to find out, we cannot. It looks so appealing and wonderful, we just have to have the largest one.  For the sake of being honest, in six months or earlier, it will not be wonderful when you cannot afford the payment.

A Real Estate Agent is there to help you once a lender has approved you, or they will not know what houses to show you. They look for the homes to show that will help you make a wise choice.

It is of no good for you to look at homes with sales prices in the 400k range when you can only afford 300k. You are setting yourself up for disappointment and the inability to be satisfied with what you really can afford.

The Real Estate Agent is there to assist you, often to disagree with you in certain matters in finding the right home.

The purpose of the Real Estate Agent is to make the deal as quickly as possible with as little interference as possible. The Agent always guides the completion of the contract for purchase.

Agents are trained within the laws, what you can do, and what you cannot do. Their goal is to protect your interest. They will instruct you on locations, the amenities of each neighborhood, and nearby conveniences.

Their familiarity with your desired location, which includes the school districts, work locations, and all other important features needed, is their expertise.

The Property of Choice

They will show you homes that are within the price and the down payment capabilities from your pre-qualification and within the payment range.

You furnish the Agent with the criteria you would like, square footage, number of bedrooms, baths, etc. In addition, they try to fit your desires into the homes, which they show you. It is not always an easy task; because most of us want everything to our expectations, and yet cannot afford as much as we want, as stated above.

Very often, a person gets it into their head that since this is a major purchase, the largest one they will ever make it is up to the Agent to find what they want regardless. They cannot perform miracles, but they can only show you what you can afford and beyond that, it is out of their hands.

If the features you want are not in the $300,000 house and that is all you can afford, you might need to suffice for plain kitchen cabinets rather than custom. You must think about replacing the plain cabinets later with newer ones. Save money to build those custom cabinets or either, let the agent find a house with those cabinets, and do without another feature you desire.

The Benefits Of The Real Estate Agent

• Real Estate Agents are Licensed.
• They must abide by certain laws, and their duty is to protect your interest over theirs.
• Realtors know how to negotiate the contract for repairs, sales price, and the end value. Most already know what a home is worth in its location.
• There may be two Real Estate Agents, one for the buyer, one for the seller.
• Fees depend upon several things. If there are 2 agents, the fee is usually split. The fees can be anywhere from 3% to 7%.
• They are there to help you find the home you can afford
• You do not have to worry about the laws and legal aspects of the contract, they know them
• If you are not aware of certain benefits; re a home inspection, they will advise
• Advise you about locations, amenities, and sales prices/values
• Help you get the most house with your $$$$
• They will sometimes suggest a lender that they are comfortable working with; it is not required for you to use their lender. You can use the lender of your choice and I can grant you; that they will not lose the loan because you want to use another lender.
• If you are informed that a lender is over-charging; then it might be something to look into, but you should get more than one quote to begin with…
• The Realtor will usually only show you three homes, to begin with, hoping that you will be very satisfied with one of the three, but more if necessary.
• Your agent will pull comparable sales for homes in the neighborhood, the values, and when they were sold. They have expertise in the market conditions, how many purchases, if they were foreclosures, short sales, deed-in-lieu, etc. Realtors do what they do, really well.

They can tell you if you are looking at a purchase in a declining market area and give their expert advice about what they know concerning market conditions for the exact area of which you are interested in buying.

You usually do not know these things without the benefit of a Real Estate Agent.

Do not leave home without a Realtor to advise you in finding the home of your choice. There may be some give and take in what is affordable.

The Benefit of a Real Estate Agent will also help with what amenities are really essential over what you merely want, or can afford.

Find a Real Estate Agent In Your Area