Do you need a real estate agent
What a buyer agent does, what it costs, and when people reasonably go without one.
4 minute read
You can buy a house without an agent. Most people do not, and it is worth understanding what you would be doing yourself before deciding either way.
What a buyer agent does
Finds properties, arranges viewings, and tells you what comparable homes actually sold for rather than what they were listed at. Writes the offer and negotiates it.
Then manages the contract period - inspection deadlines, repair negotiations, and the sequence of things that have to happen before closing. That last part is most of the work and the part people underestimate.
What it costs
How buyer agent compensation is arranged has changed, and it is now something to agree explicitly and in writing at the start. Ask directly what you will pay, who pays it, and when.
Do not assume it is free to you because it once appeared to be.
Going without one
Reasonable when you already know the property, the seller or the process - buying from family, or buying in a market you work in professionally.
Less reasonable on a first purchase in an unfamiliar area. The listing agent represents the seller, and being unrepresented in a negotiation is a real position to be in.
Choosing one
Ask how many purchases they have handled in the area you are buying in, how they are paid, and how they handle a deal going sideways. The last answer tells you the most.
The short version
- Most of an agent’s value is in the contract period, not the house hunting.
- Agree compensation explicitly and in writing at the start.
- The listing agent works for the seller.
This is general information, not advice about your situation. Zoila Moscoso can tell you what applies to you.
Ask about your situationRead next
Making an offer, and what is in it besides the price
Contingencies, earnest money and the terms that decide whether your offer wins.
Negotiating as a buyer
What there is to negotiate besides price, and when your leverage is actually highest.
The inspection, and what to do with what it finds
What an inspector does, what they cannot see, and how to read a report without panicking.