Is a realtor always necessary?

So as i've stated in other posts, DH and I are currently looking for our first home in the south shore and have started going to open houses. I've done A LOT of research about towns, school districts and zoning, etc. so I'm curious as to what exactly the benefits are to using our own realtor when buying. I know using a real estate lawyer is an absolute must but if I can do the research myself then.. what are the benefits?

Thanks

Re: Is a realtor always necessary?

You don't have to have a buyer's agent but it won't cost you any money if you do have one. In almost all cases the buyer's agent will be paid from the commission which is split between the listing broker and the selling broker.

If you don't have your own agent you can submit a bid directly to the listing agent but keep in mind that they are working for the seller and owe a fiduciary duty to the seller. If you have a buyer's agent, they work for you.

The benefits? Like I said, the buyer's agent will work for you and help you come up with a good bid. They will tell you if they think the house is overpriced. The seller's agent will not tell you this b/c they work for the seller. Also, you can be a bit more honest with your agent. Let's say you want to big $350 but can afford $375, you can be honest with your buyer's agent. You can't say that to the listing agent b/c they owe it to the seller to tell them how much you can afford.

Re: Is a realtor always necessary?

You can always use a Realtor from Zip Realty, Redfin, Penfed Realty, or anything similar that will give you a percentage of their commission.

A little extra bucks in your pocket at closing.

Re: Is a realtor always necessary?

Re: Is a realtor always necessary?

ITA with the others.

It's FREE to have an agent represent you, so why not use their expertise? Would you turn away free experienced design or handyman service? :)

If you're a seller, that's a different story since you're paying the commission to the agents...

Re: Is a realtor always necessary?

We purchased our co-op in Queens in 2005 without a buyers agent/realtor and we never felt 100% sure in our decision-making even though I thought I was adept at doing the "research" for the co-op and the neighborhood. Although, the co-op was not the worst choice it certainly was not the best because it was a hard sell for us (for many more reasons than just the market). I think hindsight is 20/20 but I am sure if we worked with a buyer's agent when purchasing we would have likely identified how hard it would be to sell. Especially, if the agent knew we would only be living there for a few years.


However, we are now currently working with Christine from Century 21-Dallow (a vendor here) and I feel like she is truly working to help us get the "right" house to meet our needs. The more she works with us the better she understands our needs and works to help us get our needs met. We are currently, looking in N. Bellmore and N. Merrick and she has been so informative and helpful in the process, especially since she lives in the area. She sends us listings that she thinks will work for us and works so diligently to get us in to see the listings we want to see. As Beth said, I don't feel like she is a saleperson but more or guide/advisor in the process.

The way I see it is that there are really no negatives to working with a buyers agent and with all the potential benefits, why wouldn't you?


HTH.

Re: Is a realtor always necessary?

I didn't realize that it didn't cost anything to have an agent work for/with you as a buyer. Hmm.. so if that's the case then why are some people obligated to work with 1 realtor as a buyer? I know someone who got in trouble for working with 2 realtors.

Re: Is a realtor always necessary?

Re: Is a realtor always necessary?

I agree that having a realtor, even in the internet age, where so much info is readily available, is really important. I posted a 4 part blog about this on this site recently outlining the main reasons why.

Basically, realtors have access to a lot of information that the average person doesn't. The information on websites is not always accurate or up to date. Quantity doesn't equal quality. And if a realtor does a lot of work in an area, they often have seen the houses in person, and can convey a lot more information to a buyer than that buyer can get from looking at photos. I show a lot of houses, and also preview a lot of houses, in the Merrick, Bellmore, Wantagh area (and surrounding towns), and I know a lot of the agents in this area. So that often enables me to give the "inside scoop" to my buyer customers and they find that very helpful.

I also agree with Beth that a good realtor is not just a salesperson or a taxi driver taking you to see houses. The type of realtor you want to work with is a knowledgeable counselor and trusted guide to the entire process. I sit down with my buyers when I first meet them and advise them on the entire buying process, making sure they are prepared and there are no surprises down the road. I make myself available to answer their questions that will inevitably come up. And I troubleshoot for them and help address the inevitable glitches that arise during even the smoothest deals.

Even if you are lucky enough as a buyer to find a house on your own, would you feel confident negotiating on your own behalf, handling the home inspection, the appraisal, talking to the attorneys, the bank, etc?

As a buyer, you are the one bringing all of the money to the table. Why would you want to go it alone without the help of a professional?

I am an attorney, but I would NEVER represent myself in a lawsuit, if that situation arose, even though I technically could. So I can't understand why home buyers would want to handle a real estate transaction on their own versus using a realtor who can share the benefit of their training and experience.

Re: Is a realtor always necessary?

Message edited 11/15/2011 3:37:21 PM.

Re: Is a realtor always necessary?

Re: Is a realtor always necessary?

Re: Is a realtor always necessary?

Re: Is a realtor always necessary?

We did not have a buyers agent - we looked and looked, and did tons of research. If you are not in a rush, take your time!!!! We looked on and off for about a year, got to know the market and actually saw a change in it. Research the comps. You can see the comps of houses. If you have an account with list book (it's free).

We would go to open houses or call the list agent to have a private view of the houses that we were interested in. It got to the point that when we walked through the house, we would say to each other “this house is worth xxx” and not a penny more to us, even if it was a lot less then the asking price.

A house is only worth what you are willing to pay for it, don’t let the list agent try to tell you anything different.

a little story - we went to an open house and really liked the house, we told the agent that we wanted to make an offer - we offered 20k less than the asking price, based on the comps and other houses we looked at in the neighborhood. The agent said NO this house is going to sell for the listing price or over. We were willing to pay the list price but just on principle we walked away - the agent called us for a week. PS the house sold for 15k less then the asking price.

try not to fall in love with a house.

Good Luck!

Message edited 11/20/2011 10:33:51 AM.

Re: Is a realtor always necessary?

I find it is always helpful to do my own research. Know the general price range of areas and estimated values of homes. I like to look through listings online before dealing with realtors.
www.longislandforsale.com

is really helpful for this!

Best of luck!

Re: Is a realtor always necessary?

Sometimes they provide useful info and sometimes not, depending on the listing. If you get one from the town you are looking in, a lot of times they know about the listings enough to tell you about the house before touring it.

Also, as far as going on your own, some houses don't have open houses, some don't have them when you want to see them, a realtor can open the doors for you. working through the listing agents is a PITA going from listing to listing.

Re: Is a realtor always necessary?

I will be going into contract for my new house this week. ( we better!!!!)

I want to make sure your questions are answered from a buyer right in the middle of it.

1. When we went to open houses we told them we are represented. When we signed in we said we had an agent.

2. We are using our in laws agent. So we have someone we trust.

3. It does not cost YOU one dollar to have an agent. It costs the seller money.

4. Your agent works in your best intrests. We told our agent what we wanted, what we were our hopes, what were our deal breakers. We wee very specific. It ends up the house we are buying WE found, and not the broker.

5. When you go to open houses there is some unwritten rule about threshold. I know there a real estate agent on here who can give more detail. But if you are not represented when you enter a house, and then go to buy that house, I think the SELLING can sorta force themselves on you as your agent weather you like it or not. I was told, when looking at open houses, that we had to put our agents name down or it could cause a real problem in the long run if we bought that specific house. Again, I'm muddy on this and dont want to imply that the selling agent can force themselves to be YOUR rep, but the is something along those lines I was told when were looking and signing in.

6. Your agent works in your best intrest. They know the paperwork. They have people to recommend for home inspection and mortgage. And. They negotiate for you. My agent pulled all the comps for the area before we made a bid. We knew it would not go for what they asked, but we went in with knowledge. She gave that to us. Then, she negotiated for us. It's her job and expertise. I hired the right person and had to trust she would do her very best. Now keep in mind, the lower we get the house for, the lower HER commission is. It's NOT in the interests of YOUR agent to get a lower price. But. When you have the right agent, honest, integrity. You get the right deal. And frankly, they are not going to let a house go for more money because of commission. Frankly, that would be malpractice. They get a commission for selling a house, not for their buyer to walk away. Use their expertise. We made a bid 80 grand below asking. For an example lets say they were asking 500,000. We made a bid at 420,000. We ended up at 465,00. We all called that number before negotiation.

7. We used their inspector which did an amazing job. 3 hours inspecting the house with a great report in a binder and a PDF version and cd as well.

8. Using her broker who gave us the pre-approval.

We trust our agent. Will she get a kickback from the broker or inspector? Maybe. Do I care?? Heck no. Since we trust her, we trust HER vendors are quality. She has been in business a long time.

Hope this helps. I would love the real estate agent on the board to talk about the threshold thing and what the implications are.