Why Use a Buyer’s Agent

Why use a Buyer’s Agent? Buyer’s Common Misconceptions

Here are common misconceptions home buyers have when buying a home. That they can either do a better job themselves in sourcing a home for sale, or that they are going to get a better deal if they approach the listing agent directly. These are misconceptions. Let’s paint a picture of a typical home buyer trying to find a home on his own. We will call him Mr. Homebuyer, HB for short: HB starts his search online looking at every imaginable site out there. I’m sure you can already see the stress mounting.

HB cannot find the phone number of the listing agent and when he does, trying to get a call back can be challenging.
Imagine trying to get 10 different listing agents to show him their properties and lining up appointments…

HB may call only to find that the property is no longer on the market. Many online sites out there are not up-to-date. He may have wasted time looking at properties that are not available.

HB may be sophisticated enough to recognize a property listed as a short sale and understand the ramifications of buying one of these properties, but many other home buyers don’t.

HB may purposefully approach the listing agent under the assumption that he is now going to get a deal because the listing agent would not have to split his commission. But let’s remember who is paying that commission – the seller.

There are way too many things that can go wrong when HB tries to buy a home buy himself. I will point these out by showing what can go right if HB uses a buyer’s agent instead!

Let’s see the benefits of using a buyer’s agent:

HB sits down with a Realtor® and together they discuss the criteria for the search. The first thing that the Realtor® asks is that HB speak with a lender and get a pre-approval. Without this nothing can be accomplished! Both HB and the Realtor® now know the limits of the search and HB will not be disappointed buy having set his heart on homes he cannot afford.

HB is no longer solely responsible for finding his home, so the pressure is off. His Realtor® builds a search that will update HB at least once daily and send out new listings to him – which will not include homes that have been sold. Because most everything that is on the market will be on the MLS, HB doesn’t have to worry that he is missing something and won’t need to spend hours searching additional listing sites.

Now all HB needs to do is make himself available to visit the homes at appointment times his Realtor® sets up for him.

If any of the homes are a short sale, the Realtor® will find out the background. How many liens are on the property, what kind of experience the listing agent has with short sales, and whether the short sale approval process have been started, are all important things to know in order to decide whether making an offer on the property is viable.

Finally, and maybe most importantly, HB’s Realtor® represents him and him alone. When a listing agent is representing both sides of the transaction impartiality is a problem. Remember who is paying the commission – the seller. Put yourself in the position of someone trying to negotiate both sides of the deal while not divulging to one party what they know about the other one.