If you are in the market for a house and you're looking to buy, chances
are you don't have the expertise to handle the entire transaction
yourself. Because of that, there are two people who are generally
involved in buying and selling a house. The first, the listing agent,
lists the property for the seller. The secondis the real estate agent
who shows the property to interested buyers who may want to actually
purchase the house. This is one type of real estate broker, the one who
works for the seller.
If you're the buyer, remember that the listing agent and the real
estate agent (or broker) who shows the property are acting in the
seller's best interests, not yours. That's okay; that's their job.
However, you need someone on your side, too, so that your own best
interests are protected. What's important to know is that if you are
the prospective buyer, the real estate agents working for the seller
(the listing agent and the real estate agent who shows you the house)
don't have to tell you anything negative about the property. Remember,
they're protecting the seller's best interests. However, this can leave
you high and dry, because you may end up with a house that has a lot of
problems you didn't know about and that can be very expensive to fix.
You can protect yourself by hiring your own agent, or your own real
estate broker, to manage your side of affairs for you. YOUR real estate
broker will work with you and with prospective sellers to find the
right house for you. Because your own real estate broker is working for
you, he or she can help you ferret out information about houses that
may be problematic, like maintenance difficulties, location
information, etc. This helps ensure that you are going to get a house
you really like AND that doesn't have problems you don't know about
before you buy.
In addition, because the real estate broker who works for you may know
about houses you won't find in listings, you may be able to find that
"perfect house" much more quickly and easily than you could on your
own. And, because the broker has top-notch negotiating skills, likely,
you can also get a better price on the house than you could if you
negotiated on your own.
There are some caveats to this, though. Ideally, you should still hire
your own housing inspector; you can do this by simply taking a walk
through the Yellow Pages, so to speak, or by asking around for
information on good inspectors in the area. By hiring your own
inspector, you're sure to find out about problems that real estate
agents may not want you to know about. This can give you a negotiating
point to get the seller to fix the problems before sale, or at least
get the seller to drop the price if significant problems are found so
that you can fix them yourself. This also gives you the knowledge to
walk away from the potential sale altogether if there are too many
problems.
One final note; even if you do hire your own broker (and you should),
remember that you still need to do your own homework. The broker is
there to act as your advisor, not to simply make decisions for you. The
final say is always up to you.
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