Do I Need a Real Estate Agent to Buy a House?

Have you ever thought, “What does a real estate agent actually do? Do I really need one?”

When someone wants to sell their home, they hire a real estate agent to market the property and negotiate on their behalf as the “listing agent.” A savvy buyer will want someone representing their best interest, so they hire a professional to act as their “buyer’s agent.”

Like lawyers, the listing agent and buyer’s agent are legally bound to look out for their client’s best interest. If you choose to buy a house and use me as your buyer’s agent, you can think of me as your consultant, your negotiator, and the overseer of all the transactional details. Here are how those roles play out.

• House Hunting:
  • I’ll review the different steps in buying a home with you so you know what to expect.
  • We will discuss what you’re looking for in a home and how to best search for homes online (Click here for 5 tips to optimize your Zillow search).
  • Like a good dating app, I’ll let you know as soon as something hits the market that matches your criteria.
  • For homes that interest you, I can research the sale history, taxes, and see if the sellers have received any competing offers.
  • We will set up a showing so we can walk through the home without the owners there.
  • If you want to make an offer:
    • We will examine comparable homes that have sold nearby to get a clear picture of market value.
    • I’ll help you craft an offer that puts you in the best position to get the house at your desired terms. We don’t know what the seller’s bottom line is or what other offers might be for, so it’s important to have an expert negotiator that gets you the best deal possible.
• The Process between an Accepted Offer and Closing:
  • Congratulations, we got our offer accepted! We came to terms with the sellers and now we get to do inspections.
  • I’ll help you schedule a professional home inspector so that you receive a detailed report on the home’s structure and major systems.
  • We also are able to gather quotes for any repairs/updates that we want to look into. I have many contacts so often I can connect you with the best people in the area for any needed repairs or quotes (Click here for a full list of companies and vendors that we recommend).
  • I’ll also coordinate with your lender, title company, and the listing agent to make sure everything moves forward towards “closing.”
  • At the closing, you sign the paperwork and mortgage and the house is yours!

As you can imagine, there are a lot of “t’s” to cross and “i’s” to dot, so having someone oversee that process from contract to closing is critical. There are many different industries that get involved and plenty of paperwork to sign.

A lot of people have ideas of how real estate works but struggle to know exactly what to expect when buying a house. It is my job to ask thought-provoking questions to find out what’s most important to you so that we can make a game plan together. Then you can make comfortable and confident decisions on your journey of buying a home.

If you want to start off your home buying journey with clarity, please give me a call!

Brandon Garnaat
Realtor, Spica Real Estate
Phone: 616-706-8104
Email: Brandon@spicarealeste.com
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