Belt Auction

What is the benefit of using a buyers agent when you can simply find houses for sale online now?

There are tons of websites that list properties for sale within your parameters (price, location, schools, appraisal value, property tax, etc.). So given that I can go online, find a house, request a viewing, then make a bid by myself...why do I need a buyer's agent?

Public Comments

1. I guess going without is fine if you're comfortable writing all the legal documents of the offer and contract by yourself.
2. presumably you are able to use a professional to help you negotiate a better deal. he or she may have more knowledge of local area than you. if you do not know area this probably is true. this person will show you the home also instead of asking listing agent to do it. plus they help you negotiate all the other terms such as deposit, who pays title insurance, how to pro rate taxes, etc.. if you have experience at this then one may not needed. but if never done it, then why not use them? seller is paying a flat commission no matter if you use one or not. a simple tax pro ration mistake could cost you $5,000. I think I could trick a non experienced buyer into paying in advance instead of arrears.
3. You do not necessarily NEED a buyer's agent, but it is rather silly to not use one, since the fees involved are paid by the seller. The commission on the property listed does not go down if you do not use an agent. It is merely split between listing and buyer agent(s). If you don't use a buyer agent, the listing agent will gain the ENTIRE commission, and THAT agent represents the interests of the seller.
4. You do not need a buyer’s agent. Some people will argue they will negotiate a better deal than you could. These people must assume you are an idiot - that's not very nice is it? In my experience buyers agents will not get you a better deal. In fact they get paid more the more you pay so why would they get you a lower price? The whole process is skewed. They have every incentive to get you to pay more and top up their commission yet you are to "trust" them? Furthermore, buyers agents get incentives that they will never tell you about. Normally the commission on a house would be split 50/50. Seller agent gets half and buyer agent gets half. But seller agents often pad the buyer agent percentage. A lazy seller agent will offer say an extra half percent or full percent to the buyers agents. Why? Now every buyer agent in town will want to show that house. If you have ever been with an agent that seems to be taking you to areas over and over even when you are not interested in them – this is why. Subdivisions are famous for this. The buyers agents get a bonus. They will not tell you, they will just keep pushing you to these subdivisions trying to hype them up. The only benefit at all to a buyer’s agent is appointments. It’s difficult to make appointments yourself and fill a day. The buyers agent can do that and take you to 5-6 houses in a day with access to the lockbox. That’s why they have the lockbox and MLS. Without those things they would have no value at all and they know it. Unlike realtors, who assume you are stupid and will believe what they tell you, I am going to assume you are a reasonably intelligent person. You may even be a negotiator at your job. Unless you are totally ignorant of the comparable sales in the area and real estate values I doubt highly an agent will get any better deal than you could. In fact you can save a few $. Without a buyers agent the seller agent doesn’t have to pay half their commission. Tell them you know this and want some of that savings passed on to you. Good luck. I’ve done plenty of house hunting. Realtors cause more problems than they are worth in my experience. That’s why 1% of realtors do 99% of the business. Most realtors sell very little. The good ones, more often than not ,are to busy to be buyers agents. Also, any buyer agent that wants a contract is a loser. Run. Good agents will not bind you for one simple reason – they do not want to waste their time. Only losers will want a signed buyer’s agreement because they know they are losers. What will happen is they will show you a few places and then leave it to you to crawl thru the MLS and send them listings.