Buying a home without a buyer's agent...?

Has anyone done this successfully? Or unsuccessfully? DH and I turned our plans on their head last night and decided to start house hunting again. We went through this once, from Dec 2011-June 2012. We were looking in an area out of our budget (family pressure) and were pushing ourselves to extend beyond where we felt comfortable. We had 3 deals fall through for various reasons. We WERE working with a buyer's agent and while I had no problems with her, I felt like I still did the majority of the work and I like doing the leg work myself. SO we have decided to start looking again. We looked at the sites last night (MLS, Trulia, Zillow) and sent out about 8 emails to houses that interest us - we already heard back from one and booked a showing. We are much more knowledgeable and informed this time and are working within a much stricter budget, in a different area. I think I feel more comfortable being in control of this process and working on it without a buyer's agent. Last time I was the one who pushed for one and DH (and MIL) were against the idea. This time I tend to agree with them. Does anyone have any success and/or horror stories about successfully buying a house without a buyer's agent? We have a good lawyer and a good mortgage broker...any other tips?

Thanks!

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We successfully bought our house in a tough market with limited inventory without a buyers agent, I think in our case it worked in our favor bc the agent didnt have to split their commision so they favored us and agents DO influence who the seller picks, especially an uniformed seller.

To be honest I have a lot of knowledge in real estate (I had my liscense though I never used it and have forgotten alot ) but I know the area I was looking well, looked for a long time etc. so that helped me.

I think it depends on the area you are looking, personally I checked MLS and redfin every day to see new listings, when we found our house I contacted the agent that day, saw the place, made an offer, we had an intense bidding war, in our case I believe in the end we won bc we DIDNT have a buyers agent and our agent got the full commision. Agents do not want to admit this but in my experience this matters.

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Personally, I think it's very important to have a buyer's agent, especially in an increasingly competitive market.

Yes, I am a real estate agent and often work as a buyer's agent, but I also used a buyer's agent when I bought my house in 2008 (and I was not a real estate agent at the time). DH and I were savvy buyers - I was an attorney and he works in banking, and we did a ton of research. But we still felt we would benefit from having a buyer's agent, and I believe we did.

Even if you do a lot of the "legwork" in terms of finding the homes online that you want to see, I think it's much easier to have one agent to coordinate showings, get feedback from you, etc. Plus, agents see A LOT more info on listings than you can see as a buyer online, even on the best sites. And if you have a buyer's agent who does a lot of work in the area, they will likely have seen many of the homes you are interested in person, and they can preview homes for you. They may even know about homes before they come on the market.
For example, we just got a great office exclusive in yesterday - I have 2 buyer clients who I think the home would be perfect for, and I told them about it immediately. They don't need to wait til it hits all the sites and then hunt for it. I can get them in asap.


When you work with someone consistently, and they know what you are looking for, you can get the inside scoop or a head's up on certain things rather than relying on limited info online and trying to get real estate agents to call you back.

And keep in mind that when you call the listing agent's real estate office or make an inquiry through Zillow, in some offices, you will be directed to another agent in that office, not necessarily the listing agent. IT depends on how they distribute their leads.

Also, consider that a good buyer's agent does much more than find you a home. I think it's important to have someone to advise you on value and offer strategy, esp. when there are multiple offers and bidding wars in a lot of areas. Also, so much comes after the accepted offer - inspections, appraisal, etc. So many times I see people posting on here about questions and problems with the mortgage process, with negotiating inspection items -- things that their attorneys often don't want to get involved with or aren't as helpful with (because they haven't seen the house). A good buyer's agent can guide you through each phase of the process AND be your advocate throughout. I advise my buyers on issues that they maybe haven't ever considered, from a due diligence standpoint.

I know there is this prevailing idea that the listing agent will push their own offer to get both sides of the commission. The bottom line is, the seller decides and for the most part, whoever offers the most money on a house is who the seller will take (unless there are significant differences in terms -- one is an all cash buyer or something like that). As a buyer's agent, I know when a house is priced for a bidding war and I know what the house is really worth - I often advise my clients to go in above asking. I also know how to present offers in the best light and how to negotiate with the other agent. I just closed on a deal last Friday where there were 4 offers presented, and mine was accepted. I sell houses as a buyer's agent all the time, even in the competitive market... the listing agent wants to sell the house and get paid, period, regardless of who sells it. Trust me.

I just think since the buyer is the one bringing ALL of the money to the table, it is insane for the buyer to be the unrepresented party in the transaction! And to me, there's no downside to using a buyer's agent.

But whatever you decide - good luck! And let me know if you have any questions or if I can help in any way.

Buying a home without a buyer's agent...?

You don't pay them, so I don't see the harm in having one.

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Message edited 6/4/2013 10:12:39 AM.

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Both times i bought, I didn't use one. Didn't see the need.

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I'll preface this by saying that we weren't looking in an exclusive neighborhood where listings aren't made public. Most areas of LI will have almost all of the homes for sale listed publicly.

You definitely could do it without a buyers agent, but I am really glad we used one.

We were first time home buyers and the process was unfamiliar to us. It was really nice to have someone in our corner who was out in front representing our interests, negotiating on our behalf, etc.....this is ESPECIALLY true now as the market is getting more and more competitive. I am confident we would not have gotten our house if it hadn't been for Beth (our agent).

Anyway, we used Beth from Exit Realty. I don't know if she works where you're looking, but she loves what she does and it shows in her work. Our house hunt felt like her main focus.

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Buying a home without a buyer's agent...?

I didnt use one, and wished i did in hindsight. Many issues come up and it is nice to have someone with knowledge of the bigger picture in your corner.

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Buying a home without a buyer's agent...?

My Uncle is a RE Atty and advised us to use a buyer's agent and I'm glad we did. It was nice to have someone on "our side" when things came up such as when the appraisal came in too low and we had renegotiate. I feel like if you use the seller's agent, they're looking out for the seller b/c that's who pays their commission.

Buying a home without a buyer's agent...?

We had a buyers agent when we bought and I am so glad we did. Although we could have found the house on our own, the seller and the sellers agent were horrible to deal with (lied about so many things and so much more) and since we had an agent, we didn't have to deal with them directly - our agent did. It made the process sooooo much easier for us. Our agent was a God-send!!!!

Buying a home without a buyer's agent...?

DH and I just bought our first home and our agent was invaluable! While you can buy a home without an agent it is much easier with one. My agent handled EVERYTHING. A couple of months into our contract the sellers had a huge falling out with their agent and lawyer. It could have been a total nightmare if not for my agent. We had everything that could possibly go wrong happen and our agent handled everything. It was stressful enough with him there for us--I do not know what I would have done if I had to do it all alone.

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I had one and would never do it without one.

I also did a lot of legwork, but the buyers agent is really most important when it comes to the contract and everything prior to closing. If you email an agent to see one of their listings, the agent is working for the seller and will have them as the priority when it comes down to it.

If you run into a situation that favors the seller, then your buyers agent will do everything they can to fix it for you.

Message edited 6/4/2013 1:31:16 PM.

Buying a home without a buyer's agent...?

We bought our house without a buyers agent and everything went very smoothly. We didnt see the need to have one and we were very proactive in pur search.

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i didnt use a uyers agent. i went with an agent once and the guy showed me 6 places that I have already been to. waste of time

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I think a buyer's experience and success with a buyer's agent depends a lot on communication and setting expectations, which is really the job of the agent upfront.

I meet with any buyer I am going to work with -- as a buyer's agent or not -- for a 30-45 minute consultation before we start looking at houses. At that time, we discuss how I can work with them (the option of buyer agency, which some people aren't aware of -- but an agent isn't automatically your buyer's agent just because they are working with you as a buyer), what they are looking for in a house, what they expect from me as an agent, etc. I also explain the overall buying process and how I like to work, as well as financing and other relevant considerations. It's a chance for them to get a feel for me and me to get a feel for them, so we decide if we would want to work together.

I think this is time well-spent, and it takes a lot of the stress out of the process if everyone knows what to expect. It also helps me to work with the buyers better and use their time more wisely. If someone is going to invest hundreds of thousands in a home, I would think they could invest a half an hour in a consultation with a real estate professional. And the buyers I work with find they benefit from it. A lot of them "don't know what they don't know," so to speak until we can talk, and I can answer questions.

But if an agent is just going to set up appointments for you and meet you at houses, without discussing with you what you want, what you've seen, how long you've been looking, etc., it is more likely to be a waste of time. Running out to look at houses before going over some preliminaries is not how I operate as a buyer's agent.

Also, as I mentioned, I think the "value add" of a buyer's agent is the advocacy and representation they provide throughout the process, not just "finding the home." We all have access to the same MLS inventory on the internet, pretty much, so it's not like a buyer's agent has magical powers to find you houses you've never seen before online.

BUT - I think it's worth noting that a buyer's agent, working for you, can show you houses BEYOND what is on the MLS. So if there are expired listings, or for sale by owners, or other company's exclusive listings... a buyer's agent can get you into those houses. And sometimes that's key if you want a specific small geographic area or have a limited price point. A buyer's agent will also take more proactive steps for you and find you inventory beyond what is on MLS and the real estate websites -- For example, a buyer client of mine is interested in a specific condo development, but there were no one bedroom units on the market there. I sent out a mailing to the condo owners to see if anyone is considering selling, got 5 calls, and was able to show her 2 units that aren't even on the market! This is the type of stuff that a full-time, experienced, professional buyer's agent can do for you.

Buying a home without a buyer's agent...?

We're in the process of buying a house and used a buyers agent. Actually, we used Beth. We would not have gotten the house without her. There were several bids and Beth guided us every step of the way. She made the process as stress free as possible. I had zero clue going through this process and she really held our hands and answered every question. She also asked the sellers to repair more things than I expected them to, so that was a huge bonus. I personally wouldn't go through the process again without a buyers agent. We found the house, but we had a very specific budget and area. It was after that that we found it so helpful to have her on our side. Good luck with your search though.