many properties listed by other agents. Buyers’ and sellers’ agents know how to put a real estate deal together. A real estate agent will track down homes that meet your criteria, contact sellers’ agents, and secure appointments for viewing the homes. On their own, buyers have a more difficult time with these tasks. This is even more so the case when a buyer is moving due to relocation or employment opportunity and does not engage a buyer’s agent to handle matters.
NEGOTIATING IS HARDER ON YOUR OWN
A real estate agent will keep the transaction “at arm’s length,” understanding personalities and emotions that often become involved. Price and terms negotiations take a special skill and understanding of the psychology of writing offers and counter- offers. Therefore a Certified Real Estate Negotiator (CREN) comes handy. Agents keep the transaction dispassionate and rational. For example, a buyer (you) might like a home but despise its wood- paneled walls, shag carpet, and lurid orange kitchen. When you work with an agent, you can express your opinions on the current owner’s decorating skills and complain about how much it will cost to upgrade the home without insulting the owner. Your agent will translate that to the seller—that you very much like the property but can see having to spend a certain amount in updating costs, and request a price consideration.
CONTRACTUALLY SPEAKING…
Generally, there are many disclosures, advisories, documents and contracts involved in purchasing a house. Unless you’re a real estate professional, escrow or title officer, these documents will be foreign to you. Yet, they require detailed
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