The purchase of real estate is one of the largest fi-
nancial transactions that one will make in their lives.
There are several reasons for people to make the de-
cision to purchase a home. New jobs, new life part-
ner, new baby, new separation, new investment, I can
go on and on about why more and more people want
to own.
The NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS ® of
recent home buyers and sellers data report provides
every year insights into detailed information about
experiences with this important transaction.
The report sho ws that thirty-three percent of recent
home transactions were including first-time buyers,
which is still down from the historical norm of forty
percent among primary residence buyers. The 2008
recession has made real estate more affordable, and
younger people took that opportunity to become a
homeowner, something that they definitely couldn’t
afford prior to the crash. For most the decision be-
came obvious when buying was less expensive than
being a tenant. Historically low-interest rates, prices
at their lowest, massive inventory and desire to grow
up and take responsibility created the biggest boom
in the first-time buyer market ever.
Only nine percent of sellers did not use a real estate
broker to sell their home. Not because they wanted
to save the commission fee on the transaction, but
around sixty percent of them received an offer from
an acquaintance before they were even thinking
about selling their property. More than eighty per-
cent of buyer and seller not using a professional ex-
pressed their regret for not hiring one. They feel that
the transaction would have been easier with some-
one preventing mistakes in the excruciating amount
of legal documents required and avoid possible law-
suits.
The majority thought that by hiring a broker would
have saved them a large amount of stress, worry but
also money. In fact, properties sold directly by owners
could have closed with an average of thirty-nine per-
cent more if they would have listed it with a licensed
agent. Also inexperienced agents and the ones des-
perate to get hired by discounting their commission
have been reported to sell properties at a lower price
by far compared to the expert brokers. The typical
six percent commission that a good agent charge to
help you is increasing your return without a doubt.
For forty-three percent of home buyers, the first step
in the home-buying process was looking online for
properties. Ninety-two percent of buyers use the in-