Home Buying: Reasons to Use a Buyer’s Agent
When looking to buy a home, it is always a good idea to have someone on YOUR side. Always remember that the seller’s agent listing a home for sale is representing the SELLER, not your interests. If that does not convince you, here are more reasons why to use a buyer’s agent when buying real estate:
Most important….using a buyer’s agent is FREE to the buyer! Some people think they can save money by not using a buyer’s agent, so instead search for a home on their own spending many hours finding homes, scheduling with various agents and using internet research. In most cases, this is simply not true that by doing all this extra work you will save money; and in fact, it is usually just the opposite. In residential real estate, both agents commissions are typically paid by the seller so it is in your best interest to have an agent representing your best interests at no additional charge and they will be negotiating on your behalf for the best deal too! Where else can you employ the services and receive the benefits of a trained and experience professional on your side for free?
Your best interest is our priority at all times. Your buyer’s agent has a legal and ethical responsibility to represent your best interest at all times. Some of the duties that your agent has to you include: loyalty to you, promoting your best interests, disclosing known material facts, maintaining confidential information, and accounting for any money they handle in the transaction. If your agent knows something about the seller that might influence your decision to buy or not or to alter your offering price, they have a duty to disclose that to you subject to federal and fair housing laws. In short, it’s nice to know that someone has your back when you’re in the trenches of buying real estate.
You get full access to the MLS! Searching for a new home on websites such as Zillow and Realtor.com just do not give you live time info, like MLS does. As a member of the multiple listing service (MLS), your agent has full access to the searchable database of MLS listings. MLS will have up to date info and we can tell you the minute a listing goes under contract or is listed. As a buyer’s agent, we can ask you the right questions to determine what you are looking for and what areas you are most interested in. Once we know your price range and what you are looking for, we will use the full power of the MLS to help you find it. We can provide printouts, email reports, and do custom searches to find available homes that meet your criteria. We can also setup auto emails to notify you automatically if a listing comes on the market that meets your criteria. Sometimes we can even tell you about new listings before they come on the market.
Your valuable time is saved! Why do something yourself when you can have a professional buyer’s agent do it for you? A Buyer’s agent spends a lot of time previewing homes and staying familiar with the current listing inventories. This knowledge — as well as useful technologies such as virtual tours, interactive maps, internet websites to verify information, and use of the MLS system — will save you from wasting valuable time previewing homes that don’t meet your needs. Your agent will also perform many of the services that you otherwise might have to do your self such as writing up offers, delivering earnest money, contracts, etc. to the title companies and lenders. So much time is saved when you have an agent on your side!
Reduces stress to make life easier! While your time is saved, when you have a buyer’s agent you also lessen your stress. You don’t have to worry about driving neighborhoods for hours or worrying that you’re missing the house that would be perfect for you. You can spend your time doing the things you enjoy while the search is being handled by someone else who is a professional. We’ve helped hundreds of people with their real estate needs, and our experience will help keep you from any unpleasant surprises throughout the entire buying process. When you use us as your buyer’s agent, you’ll actually be surprised at how much we do for you behind the scenes. You don’t have to worry about the deadlines and “what ifs” because we do it for you. We even reduce stress when negotiating. When you have a buyer’s agent help, you hold all the cards when negotiating with the seller. The buyers agent is an experienced real estate agent that has been through many negotiations and levels out the playing field when dealing with the sellers agent to negotiate the sell on your terms
Paperwork taken care of for YOU! From writing up the offer, to providing seller disclosures, to filling out escrow instructions, to reviewing the title work and closing documents…..it’s nice to have a trained professional by your side to handle the paperwork and to help answer any questions you might have. We have done this more than a time or two, and we’ll help you cross your t’s and dot your i’s and follow up with all the parties involved to make sure everyone meets their deadlines too.
An endless resource of knowledge and information. Not only are buyers agents very familiar with the history and demographics of the area, but we know a lot about real estate. We will educate you about market conditions, and answer any questions you have about the home buying process, including explaining fair housing laws and agency relationships. Our goal is give you the best and most accurate information to help you make the best possible informed decisions. Over the years, we’ve developed good working relationships with several home inspectors, mortgage lenders, title companies, and other professional tax and legal advisors. We know from experience which ones have delivered on time consistently and which ones have fallen short of the bar. We’ll help you find the right professionals to help ensure a successful buying process without any regrets.
You’ve got a friend in me. One of the things we enjoy most about working with buyers is the friendships and relationships that are formed. Our goal is to provide you with the services and be the type of person that you feel the same way about us when the transaction is completed. Your friendship and trust mean more to us than any compensation we get from selling real estate. We hope that if you ever need help buying or selling real estate in the future, or if you know anyone that needs help buying or selling real estate, that you’ll give us a call!
We hope this list shows you what you can gain by having a buyer’s agent when purchasing a home and someone representing you is paramount to your success. When working with our team, we have buyer’s agents that are ready to help you. Give the Marr Team a call today; we would love to help you find your dream home because experience and knowledge is not expensive, it’s priceless!