What Can Real Estate Agents Do For Buyers?

The real estate agency has changed a lot over the last decade and the role of the real estate agent has shifted. With the internet and mobile devices changing the way that we look for homes, many home buyers have a lot of information at their fingertips without having to hire an agent.

This raises a question – “is a real estate agent still necessary for home buyers?” and if the answer is yes, what exactly do these agents do?

Educating the Buyer on the Current Market

It’s one thing to search online for a home, but another thing entirely to understand the job market and to be able to make the right moves when negotiating on a home. A real estate agent will act as an adviser and an advocate during the home buying process, getting to know the needs of the buyer and understanding the market, so that they can educate the buyer on the current conditions. Having a local real estate agent is very important like described in the article from Agent Harvest.

The goal of the real estate agent is to make sure that the buyer can meet as many of their needs as possible, as well as dealing with any specific financial constraints and the reality of the marketplace.

Bringing Added Value to the Transaction

The real estate agent’s job is to sell homes and they have likely sold many of them throughout their career. They are able to offer you information and insight that you just don’t have, due to lack of experience. You don’t know all of the details about the other homes for sale in the neighborhood and why some sell for higher prices than others. An experienced agent knows this and will be able to help you to figure out what is the best price to offer on that home you really want to buy.  Also, they have a lot of experience with bidding and negotiating on homes, so they will be better able to represent you when things get into the negotiation process.

Doing the Research

Having an agent on your side when you are buying a home can help because they are able to do the research on the home you are looking at buying and find out a lot about it. They will have access to information and files that the average person wouldn’t know where to find, such as a copy of the home’s historical documents or a properly profile that reflects property data, sales history, services, demographics and much more. They can also calculate the annual facts and trends within an area in order to help suggest a good price to offer.

Deciphering the Legalese

Buying a home comes with a lot of legal hoops to jump and paperwork. Another helpful role of an agent is to review the documents for loopholes and to obtain disclosures. They are experienced with these types of documents, so they will be able to understand them and then explain them in a way that you will understand.

Offering You a Look At More Properties

Often, a real estate agent will have access to a much wider range of properties than you might already be exposed to. In fact, they are often able to show you properties that are not even advertised. They have the advantage of being connected in the network, so that they can provide you with several focused opportunities and stay ahead of others in the market.

They Can Save You Time

Having a professional agent to help you seek out a property can really save you a lot of hours and avoid house-hunting stress. You will be able to focus on attending inspections and open houses and your agent will have already looked through the properties, so you will only spend your time focusing on properties that have a good chance of meeting your needs. You probably have a very busy life with a full time job and a lot of commitments, so having someone else help you with your house hunt can really be very helpful.

These are just a few of the things that real estate agents do for buyers, which can give them a significant advantage when it comes to buying a home.