Buying a house doesn’t require the use of a real estate agent. 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 the vast majority of people, hiring a real estate agent is the way to go when buying a home. Here are some good reasons for hiring a real estate agent when buying a home.
Most real estate agents are members of the National Association of Realters (NAR) and as such are held to a code of ethics that promotes honesty when dealing with clients. Those 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.
A real estate agent has experience in house valuation. 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.
You can certainly save money by not using and agent when you buy a house, but the benefits of using an agent can offset any savings in most cases.
