When you are looking at homes for sale, it can be confusing. How much house can you afford? Where is the best place to find houses for sale? How much should you pay for a house? There are a million and one tips that anyone can give you about the home buying process, but only one that you really need to know: hire a buyer's agent. Here's why.
1. Knowledgeable
Buyer's agents are not only knowledgeable about all the houses for sale in your area, but also about local market conditions. They know when one subdivision or community has better resale value than another and why. They know about future development and growth. When you hire a buyer's agent, you are hiring someone with experience and knowledge to guide you through a complicated business transaction.
2. Negotiate
Submitting an offer on a house that you love and want to buy is one of the single hardest things you will have to do as an adult. Not only are you wondering if you made the right decision by choosing this home over all the other homes for sale, but you are also worried that your offer was too high or too low. To complicate matters even further, when you are bidding on a home in a seller's market, you can easily be competing with multiple buyers who all want the same house. You need a master negotiator to win the bid.
3. Paperwork
When you buy a house, there is a mountain of paperwork involved. While it may seem like fun, it is also a detailed and complicated business transaction. You need someone on your side that comprehends all the legal terms and paperwork.
4. Schedule
Once you have an accepted offer, you want to close on the home as soon as possible. While closings take time and there are multiple steps that need to be accomplished, sometimes people drag their feet. Having an experienced buyer's agent can keep everything—and everyone—on schedule.
5. Objective
Buying a home can be emotional. People that are normally level-headed and rational can become emotionally attached to a home. Whether they fear losing the house during the negotiating process or want to walk away after the inspection, emotions run high. When you work with a buyer's agent, you are guaranteed to have a level-headed, objective person on your team to talk things over with and to help you see the big picture.
6. Free
The best part about hiring a buyer's agent is that working with one is free to you. Yes, free! A buyer's agent's commission is paid for out of the seller's proceeds. When a seller lists their house for sale, they agree to pay their listing agent a commission, typically equal to five to six percent of the sale price. That listing agent, in turn, splits the commission with the real estate agent representing the eventual buyer of the home.
Buying a home is complicated and you need someone on your team that can assist you with all the details—and it's free!
Contact a real estate agency like Wilhelm & Associates Realtors for more information.