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Not all buyer's agents are equal. I have worked with experienced, savvy home buyers who were simply unaware of many aspects of the new construction process. They were amazed and quite pleased with the information that I disclosed to them.
The US real estate market seems very different from the UK market in terms of both the cost of the transaction (much higher here) and the amount of representation required to complete it.
The first and only house I've ever purchased and sold was in the UK so I know how transactions there work. I've never heard of anyone there using a buyer's agent so assuming everything else is equal, I'm confused as to why I would need one. All I wanted was someone to explain it to me instead of taunting me with "you'll be sooooooooooorryyyyyyyyy" and giggling about the impending ripoff that is surely coming my way if I choose to go forward unrepresented. (Not saying you did that.)
If someone can explain to me the benefits of having a buyer's agent, keeping in mind that my only RE experience is from a country that doesn't seem to use them, I'd appreciate it immensely. Pretend I'm a foreigner even though I'm not.
LinusK, original poster: you have some exceptionally well-voiced and well-defended viewpoints.
I also bought a home in Austin, TX without a buyer's realtor and just wanted to chime in as well, for those like us who come across this post in the future. I hired a real estate attorney by the hour... and YES, I saved well over 2% in commission costs and negotiated a price that was 9.5% under listing price (when the average was ~5% under). YOU CAN DO IT.
Despite the flood of responses on here that are jaded by those who have a direct financial interest in receiving fiscal compensation based upon an outdated fiscal model (just to get you started thinking: think about how a commission-based realtor's bottom line has been affected over the years as home prices have risen disproportionately faster than inflation - even as compared to the conservative Case-Shiller index). Yes, realtors can be extremely helpful, but does the historical 6% commission really sound like a reasonable transaction fee to you? Considering the difficulty of the job (don't forget the classes, certification renewals, deadbeat clients, etc.) and considering that with the hourly rate a good realtor makes, I don't think so.
And that, along with the fact that a large percentage of realtors I have worked with have displayed that they are much more concerned about their paycheck then my interests (as "linusK" has also observed), is why I will never use a realtor again.
This approach is not for everyone, as you really do need to know what you're doing, but it is negligent (and often greedy) when realtors claim it can't be done successfully.
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