Top 3 Reasons To Hire A Realtor When Shopping For A New House
Posted on: 27 July 2017
Are you thinking about buying a home? Have you been browsing online real estate listings and you haven't been able to find what you're looking for? Buying a house, especially if you're a first-time homebuyer, can be both exciting and frustrating. Exciting because you get to choose a new place to live. Frustrating because finding the right place for you can seem like looking for a needle in a haystack. One thing that makes the whole process easier is hiring a real estate agent. If you've never used one before, you may be wondering why you should hire a licensed realtor instead of handling things on your own. There are several advantages to doing so, some of which include:
You pay nothing: Unlike in some other countries, hiring a Realtor doesn't mean paying anything out of your own pocket. Instead, the seller has already agreed to pay a certain percentage of the sale to his or her real estate agent. If you bring in your own agent for the deal, both agents will split this percentage. As a result, your out-of-pocket expenses for house shopping may include things like getting the house appraised or inspected, but will not include paying your real estate agent for his or her time.
Greater number of properties: Looking at real estate listings, you may have noticed that they include an MLS number. The MLS, or Multiple Listing Service, is how real estate agents and brokers keep track of what houses are for sale and where. But while all pieces of property being sold by a Realtor will have an MLS number, not all properties with an MLS number will be immediately available online. Maybe the selling agent hasn't gotten around to taking pictures yet or maybe they list properties online only once a week. Whatever the case, your real estate agent may have access to a number of listings that you wouldn't be able to see yet. By the time that they get listed online, there may already be several offers. Be one of those people who is able to get their offers in early by hiring a real estate agent to give you advance information on property listings.
Coordinate viewings: Without a real estate agent to coordinate for you, it may be nearly impossible to get to see the inside of a particular home. Sellers and selling agents may be wary about allowing random people to have access to the home, especially if it's still currently occupied, fearing burglary. Working with your own Realtor shows that you're serious about actually buying a house and that you're not looking at their listing for nefarious purposes.
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