If you are like most people who are getting ready to purchase a home, pricing is important to you. With the average cost of a new home being $186,000, purchasing a home can represent one of the largest investments you will make in your lifetime. You want to ensure that you are getting the best price that you can for the home you are trying to purchase. To reduce your out of pocket expense you may be tempted to use one of the many online real estate tools to eliminate the cost of the realtor's commission. Unfortunately, what you do not realize is that you may actually be costing yourself money in the long run. There are numerous ways that a buyer's agent can actually save you money, but you must first understand their role.
A Buyer's Agent Represents You During The Process
A buyer's agent wears many hats during the home buying process. Although they start off as a tour guide, escort, and attendant, they will also work as a strategist, negotiator, financial expert, and a legal adviser. Not only will they be able to help you match your wish list to homes on the market, they will be able to give you insight into the neighborhoods you are considering. A good realtor will be able to not only point out the best schools in the area, but they will also be able to discuss the neighborhood's crime rate.
For performing these duties, most buyer's agents do not cost you anything. They are paid from a commission that is based on the selling price of the home that is paid by the seller as a part of their selling real estate agent's fees. Although this is normally the standard operating procedure, when choosing a buyer's agent, make sure that you are fully aware of what, if anything, you will be required to pay.
A Buyer's Agent Helps You Narrow Your Search
Although you may already have a good idea of what you want in a new home, and where you want your home to be located, you may be able to get a better price by slightly expanding your search options. Sometimes, as a buyer, it is easy to get fixated on a certain neighborhood or a certain part of town and miss some real bargains just because they are not located on the street you are looking at.
A real estate agent will have the knowledge of what is available in and around your chosen area at any given time. They will be able to unearth and show you options that you may miss when you are conducting your online searches. These may include:
- Homes that not be listed on multiple listing services (MLS)
- Homes that are getting ready to come to market
- Bank owned properties
- Pending foreclosures and more
To find the best property for you and your family, simply be willing to be open minded.
A Buyer's Agent Has An Extensive Network Of Services
Although you may think that buying a home is a simple procedure that only entails you finding what you want, getting financing or writing a check, signing your contract, and moving in, it is so much more than that. Once the seller of the home has accepted your offer, one of the first things that you must do is to get an inspection of the home to ensure that it is exactly what the seller has represented it to be.
Your home inspection will look at all the major components in your potential new home and then provide you with a fully detailed report of the findings. Depending on your offer contract, what is contained in the inspection report may not only give you the right to ask the seller to cover the cost of any major repairs, but it may also give you the ability to cancel your offer based on what is found.
Not only will your buyer's agent have listings of reputable home inspectors that will get this part of the process done quickly, they will also have an extensive list of service providers to make any needed repairs. Because the agents often use these providers frequently, they are often able to get you better pricing than you would be able to get on your own.
A Buyer's Agent May Be Able To Get You A Higher Appraisal
Prior to financing your home, your lending institution will make a full appraisal of the property you are purchasing. How much your home appraises for will not only affect how much financing you are able to secure, it will also affect how much equity you will have in your home. By having your buyer's agent present at the appraisal, they will be able to point out the upgrades and other unique features of the home, which in turn may increase the appraised value of your home.
Do not attempt to go through the buying process alone; find a buyer's agent that you like and let them help you with your home buying process. It may be one of the most valuable relationships that you have cultivated in a long time. Contact a company like Leading Edge Real Estate for more information.
