Why Buyers Need Real Estate Agents
When trying to get the best deal on a piece of property, it can often be to your advantage to hire a special buyer’s agent to represent your interests.
While it’s perfectly easy to deal with just the seller’s agent, you need to remember that it’s their job to get the best deal for the seller, not for you.
Buyer’s agents are required to deal with the seller honestly, but they
Find a guide. When you see a great-looking house in a real estate circular, you might be tempted to call the agent listed by the photo. That could be a mistake.
“A lot of buyers think that ‘If I call the listing agent, I’ll get a better deal.’ That’s not true,” said Bob Wilson, an agent with the Guiltinan Group in San Diego County. Because listing agents have a duty to get the best possible price for the seller, they’re not suitable advisers for crafting a lowball offer.
Buyers need someone to represent their interests. Typically, that person is a buyer’s agent, who researches listings exclusively for a home seeker. When a purchase closes, the buyer’s agent normally splits the sales commission with the seller’s agent. In most states the buyer’s agent is required to deal with the seller honestly, but unlike the listing agent is under no obligation to get the highest possible price for the seller.