Buying a Home

Buying a new home is an exciting event but it can also be stressful. You want to make sure you are seeing the right properties when they appear on the market and avoid wasting time on ones that won’t meet your needs.

The best way to maximize your time and opportunities is to enlist the help of a Buyer Agent.

Education & Experience
You don't need to know everything about buying real estate if you hire a real estate professional who does. The trick is to find the right person. Why not hire a person with more education and experience than you? We're all looking for more precious time in our lives, and hiring pros gives us that time.

Neighborhood Knowledge
They can identify comparable sales and hand these facts to you, in addition to pointing you in the direction where you can find more data on schools, crime or demographics. For example, you may know that a home down the street was on the market for $350,000, but an agent will know it had upgrades and sold at $285,000 after 65 days on the market and after twice falling out of escrow.

Price Guidance
An agent will help to guide clients to make the right choices for themselves. Buyer agents will ask buyers to weigh all the data supplied to them and to choose an offer price. They will help devise a negotiation strategy.

Market Conditions Information
Real estate agents can disclose market conditions, which will govern your buying process. Many factors determine how you will proceed. Data such as the average per square foot cost of similar homes, median and average sales prices, average days on market and ratios of list-to-sold prices, among other criteria, will have a huge bearing on what you ultimately decide to do.

Professional Networking
Real estate agents network with other professionals, many of whom provide services that you will need to buy or sell. Due to legal liability, many agents will hesitate to recommend a certain individual or company over another, but they do know which vendors have a reputation for efficiency, competency and competitive pricing. Agents can, however, give you a list of references with whom they have worked and provide background information to help you make a wise selection.

Negotiation Skills & Confidentiality
Top producing agents negotiate well because, unlike most buyers and sellers, they can remove themselves from the emotional aspects of the transaction and because they are skilled. It's part of their job description. Good agents are professionals who are trained to present their client's case in the best light and agree to hold client information confidential from competing interests.

Answer Questions After Closing
Even the smoothest transactions that close without complications can come back to haunt. Many questions can pop up that were overlooked in the excitement of closing. Good agents stand by ready to assist. Worthy and honest agents don't leave you in the dust to fend for yourself.

Develop Relationships for Future Business
The basis for an agent's success and continued career in real estate is referrals. Few agents would survive if their livelihood was dependent on consistently drumming up new business. This emphasis gives agents strong incentives to make certain clients are happy and satisfied. It also means that an agent who stays in the business will be there for you when you need to hire an agent again.