There are many first time home buyers who wonder if they should use the seller' s real estate agent to buy a home. The simple answer is, "NO, you should not!" Going directly to the listing agent is one of the worst mistake first time home buyers make for several reasons.
One of the main reasons why going directly to the seller's real estate agent is a bad idea is forfeiting your right to have representation. If you decide to go directly to a listing agent, it’s likely that you’re going to be entering into a dual agency situation. Dual agency in real estate is when a real estate agent is “representing” both the buyer and seller. The problem is that when an agent is a dual agent, they cannot provide any advice to you as to how much they feel the home is worth or how to negotiate repair requests after a home inspection. In practical terms, a dual agent simply is a conduit for getting information to and from the buyer and seller.
It’s extremely common when buying new construction that a buyer will decide to use the builder representative. This is common because many builders will give a buyer the impression that they’ll give them a discount if they don’t have a buyers agent. What these buyers don’t realize is that they are giving up their right to representation which is critical when buying new construction. Hiring a real estate agent when buying new construction can save you thousands of dollars, so don’t let a builders representative trick you into the thought that they’ll give you a discount if you don’t have a real estate agent representing your interests.
In either case, it makes no damn sense for a buyer to give up representation. Whether you’re buying your first house or tenth, chances are you don’t physically look at houses on a daily basis. A successful buyers agent is physically looking at dozens of houses each and every week. A buyer's agent knows what to look for when viewing houses.
There are certain red flags to look for when buying a house, many of which you may not be aware of. An experienced buyers agent who looks at houses day in and day out will be able to identify potential problems within a house relatively easily.
There are many other reasons for not foregoing representation but the most obvious reason to hire a buyers agent when buying a house is that it’s free. There are very few circumstances where it costs money to hire a buyers agent.
When you get ready to buy a home, call or text me @ 919-308-2292. You will be glad that you did.
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