Do you really need a buyer agent when buying home? (Charlotte: for sale by owner, real estate)
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When you buy a home, if you can do your research, know the area, know the comps based on online information, past sales etc and know what you want and can find the properties, do you need a buyer agent?
What value buyer agent adding? (of course you need a real estate lawyer, not saying no to that)
For a 200K property you easily have seller pay 6K, can that not be used towards lower purchase price?
Do provide your opinions and if you have purchased without agent how was your experience? what's pros and cons.
The commission is generally the same whether a buyers agent is used or not. At most you might save the seller a percent if they have a deal where the commission isn't split. . But most of the time it's a set percentage to be split among 2 agents or one agent keeps it all.
It's easier to use an agent that represents you and acts as a go between between you and the seller's agent. Especially since it's free to you.
If you are buying a for sale by owner home, then no I don't think you need an agent. An attorney is fine for that.
It's free for me, but seller is paying for buyer agent commission, wouldn't I be able to negotiate a lower rate with seller if I'm saving him not to pay for buyer agent, if I don't have buyer agent.
Seller signs the contract to pay their agent 6% generally. The seller's agent will split the 6% with another agent (your buyer's agent) or keep it all if there's no other agent.
In rare cases, the agent may give a discount of one percent if no other agent is involved. (Charge only 5% instead of 6%)
As I was posting before, it usually doesn't change for the seller whether you use an agent or not.
That's a valid point, yes, it would end up in seller agent pocket, unless I choose to buy from FSBO.
What does buyer agent do that he deserves 3%, especially these days so much you can do yourselves with online
They take you to see homes, provides accurate comps to help with offer (no Zillow)provides paperwork to place an offer, submits it for you, help set up the inspections, help with questions or concerns, looks out for your interest in the purchase, helps with closing if needed etc. If it's not worth it to you, then of course you don't need to use one. Either way one agent will take the commission or two agents will split it.
Only way around it is FSBO. If you are not finding what you want FSBO, and going to buy from a listing with an agent, I would get your own. It makes things a lot easier. And I wouldn't stress about the commission. You will have enough on your plate with the purchase and financing.
I am buying a place in Cornelius and wanted to use a buyers agent.
For me it was because I was moving to a new place and had no idea of areas, price points etc.
I wanted her help in figuring it all out.
If I saw places on line that I liked, she would preview them for me and let me know if it is what I was looking for beroe I flew down to look. We had some specific requirements that she knew.
The place we ended up with was a FSBO that she took us in to, and met every one of our wish list items.
Also the process down there is totally different then the process up here, so she walked me through all that as well. She was there for the appraisal, the home inspection and a few other times we needed her to be.
I am buying a place in Cornelius and wanted to use a buyers agent.
For me it was because I was moving to a new place and had no idea of areas, price points etc.
I wanted her help in figuring it all out.
If I saw places on line that I liked, she would preview them for me and let me know if it is what I was looking for beroe I flew down to look. We had some specific requirements that she knew.
The place we ended up with was a FSBO that she took us in to, and met every one of our wish list items.
Also the process down there is totally different then the process up here, so she walked me through all that as well. She was there for the appraisal, the home inspection and a few other times we needed her to be.
I would not have done it any other way.
FSBOs normally dont let buyers agents in. So that was a lucky break.
There are a lot of good reasons for a buyer to have his/her own agent since the selling agent cannot represent the buyer when push comes to shove no matter how nice, hardworking, helpful the seller agent is.
It's also a fallacy that a buyer with no agent can get a price reduction of any significant amount just because there will only be the seller's agent receiving a commission.
I do recommend a buyer's agent for many of the reasons other posters have given. It costs the buyer nothing, it doesn't have a much of an impact on negotiating the price, it does help someone new to the area to get more inside scoops, and the buyer's agent will help keep the due diligence schedule on track.
Hiring a buyer's agent for one particular purchase doesn't seem fair that the buyer's agent and listing agent should split the commission 50/50, but that's for them to hash out and not the buyer.
A couple of years ago, when we were moving to a new state and knew nothing about the location, we retained a buyer's agent. Best decision ever. It was his work investigating a piece of property we wanted to buy that uncovered some major faults. He knew all the right questions to ask of the listing agent (who was not being secretive I will add), and between the two of them they got all the necessary paperwork that showed a problem with the septic system. We didn't buy the property, but our buyer's agent not only helped us, but also helped the seller fix an unknown problem that would have become known once everyone was well into the contract.
FSBOs normally dont let buyers agents in. So that was a lucky break.
Might depend on the area of the US.
There were a number of them that she showed us.
Also where I live in NY - FSBOS will let agents show as well.
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