Buying a home is a huge stepping stone in life, and many homebuyers choose to work with real estate professionals who can make the process easier. However, other hesitant buyers may not be as willing to dish out the commission fees required in addition to their other upfront costs.
While it is possible to buy a home without the help of a real estate agent, there are some risks involved, especially since this could be the biggest financial investment of your life. Uncover the details of homebuying with and without a real estate professional below.
There’s a reason why the majority of homebuyers choose to work with a real estate agent over searching for a home alone. Take a look at the most common ones below.
You can find public information on homes for sale on many real estate websites. However, you won’t always have immediate access to the latest listings or to homes that truly fit within your budget. Agents can compare homes in the location you want to determine whether the listed home prices are justified. In addition, a good agent will already have prior knowledge of their local market, so you wouldn’t have to do much heavy lifting when it comes to research. This could help save you valuable time during your home search.
Knowing their local real estate market includes the neighborhoods that you want to buy in. Real estate agents would know what kind of local amenities are nearby, the walkability of the location, school zones and more. They may also be aware of any hidden facts about the neighborhood just from sheer experience from working in it so often. An agent’s knowledge about the location could help save you from heartbreak and/or wasted money in the long run.
An experienced real estate agent will likely have additional connections that you may need during the process. This could include a lender or loan officer, contractors, inspectors, lawyers, financial advisors and more. Having this network of professionals could help you save time spent on searching for the “right” person since they’d be connected to someone you already trust.
When it’s time to put an offer down on your dream home, your real estate agent will be in your corner throughout the negotiating process. Not only can they negotiate the asking price, but they can also help negotiate and finalize contingencies and other clauses to help ensure you’re not overpaying or losing out on the property. Negotiating can also be intimidating and complicated if you’re not experienced. Oftentimes, it’s better to leave it to the professionals.
Buying a home inherently comes with pages and pages of paperwork. Unless you know how to write up a home offer or decipher a home inspection report complete with jargon or uncommonly used terms, working with an agent is crucial. They’ll help point out important issues, request necessary disclosures, draw up detailed legal documents and more.
Before you’re set on working with a real estate agent or not, it’s imperative to keep in mind the following:
Searching for a home, knowing its location, putting together an offer, negotiating, working through paperwork and communicating with everyone involved in the process takes a lot of time, energy and patience. Working with a real estate agent can help mitigate the experience, but if you’re set on going through this without an agent, be prepared for all the hard work.
Negotiating an offer takes a combination of skill, experience and comprehension of purchase terms. If you’re considering taking on the process without an agent, it’s important to do your research to help ensure you’re not overpaying for the home or going over your budget. Of course, a little luck doesn’t hurt either. Some sellers could be looking to get rid of their home fast and could be more willing to let it go for a lower price than they originally asked for.
In some cases, experienced homebuyers or investors who have been through the process before could be more comfortable embarking on the homebuying journey without a real estate agent. In any case, knowing what’s involved in the process (including requesting, deciphering and drawing up paperwork, being familiar with who you’re working with, finding a home within your budget, anticipating next steps you need to take and more) is necessary for a successful transaction.
Working with a real estate agent means that you’re responsible for their commission fees. Depending on how much they are, these fees could be the difference in being able to afford other upfront costs, so the labor you’d have to put in yourself could be worth it to forgo working with an agent. In some instances, however, you could ask the seller to pay the fees, roll the fees into your offer price or negotiate with your agent.
In short, you don’t legally need to work with a real estate agent to buy a home. However, they may offer some benefits that you may not be able to get if you do everything yourself. Nevertheless, only you can choose whether to work with an agent or not because only you know your specific situation and needs the best.
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