It’s not absolutely necessary to use a real estate agent when buying a house and there are some people who don’t use them. There is no law that says you can’t buy a house on your own. Some people choose to buy a house on their own to save the cost of hiring an agent. But for most people, hiring a real estate agent is the way to go when buying a home. There are many reasons in favor of using a real estate agent when buying a house and here are just a few of them.
A reputable real estate agent is will be a member of the National Association of Realters (NAR) and as such is held to a code of ethics that promotes honesty when dealing with clients. Real estate agents who belong to the NRA can face fines and suspensions if they are found to have violated ethics codes. Bottom line is you are protected when you use an agent.
Experience in house valuation is critical when looking to buy and a real estate agent has that experience. This experience enables an agent to know whether a specific house is overpriced, or underpriced. An agent will also have knowledge of the market and potential value of buying a house in a specific area.
Real estate agents know what to look for as far as possible repairs that may be needed and can make recommendations on what to do. Inspection reports can be dozens of pages long. A real estate agent knows how to read these reports and can analyze them for you.
Sometimes there are homes that are not advertised to be for sale. Sometimes for whatever reason sellers don’t want it made public that there house is for sale. In many such cases only a real estate agent will have the information on these houses.
Saving money is important to most people and you can certainly do that by not using and agent when you buy a house. But the many benefits of using an agent can offset any savings in most cases.
