First Hampton International Realty Real Estate HOT LIST | Page 24

5 Reasons
You Still Need A
Real Estate Agent
T

he proliferation of services
that help homebuyers and sellers
complete their own real estate transactions is relatively recent, and it may
have you wondering whether using a
real estate agent is becoming a relic of
a bygone era. While doing the work
yourself can save you the significant
commission rates many real estate
agents command, for many, flying solo
may not be the way to go–and could
end up being more costly than a
realtor’s commission in the long run.
Buying or selling a home is a major
financial (and emotional) undertaking.
Find out why you shouldn’t discard the
notion of hiring an agent just yet.

1. Better Access/More
Convenience
A real estate agent’s full-time job is to
act as a liaison between buyers and
sellers. This means that he or she will
have easy access to all other properties listed by other agents. Both the
buyer’s and seller’s agent work full
time as real estate agents and they
know what needs to be done to get a
deal together. For example, if you are
looking to buy a home, a real estate
agent will track down homes that
meet your criteria, get in touch with
sellers’ agents and make appointments for you to view the homes. If
you are buying on your own, you will
have to play this telephone tag
yourself. This may be especially
difficult if you’re shopping for homes
that are for sale by owner.

2. Negotiating Is Tricky
Business
Many people don’t like the idea of
doing a real estate deal through an

agent and feel that direct negotiation
between buyers and sellers is more transparent and allows the parties to better
look after their own best interests. This is
probably true–assuming that both the
buyer and seller in a given transaction are
reasonable people who are able to get
along. Unfortunately, this isn’t always an
easy relationship.
What if you, as a buyer, like a home but
despise its wood-paneled walls, shag
carpet and lurid orange kitchen? If you
are working with an agent, you can
express your contempt for the current
owner’s decorating skills and rant about
how much it’ll cost you to upgrade the
home without insulting the owner. For all
you know, the owner’s late mother may
have lovingly chosen the décor. Your real
estate agent can convey your concerns to
the sellers’ agent. Acting as a messenger,
the agent may be in a better position to
negotiate a discount without ruffling the
homeowner’s feathers.

A real estate agent can also play the
‘bad guy’ in a transaction, preventing
the bad blood between a buyer and
seller that can kill a deal. Keep in mind
that a seller can reject a potential
buyer’s offer for any reason–including
just because they hate his or her guts.
An agent can help by speaking for you
in tough transactions and smoothing
things over to keep them from getting
too personal. This