If you are going to sell your home or property you will
probably get an agent to represent you and help you to sell
the property. But what if you are buying a home? Can you
just find your dream home in a newspaper or Internet
advertisement, or should you get a real estate agent to
represent you and help you out?
While you may be lucky and find your own house or condo
without any professional help, there are many reasons why
you would be better off to opt for taking on an agent. Now
let's look at why it is so important to have a real estate
salesperson represent you when purchasing a home.
One of the biggest advantages to inviting a professional
sales representative to help you is that you will be able
to select from a far greater number of properties. Real
estate agents have access to many homes that are never
promoted for sale by a lawn sign or advertised in the
newspapers or in other media.
In addition to getting access to a greater number of
properties, a real estate agent can help you to look at the
homes that meet your exact needs because they are able to
perform a thorough search for you based on details such as
price range, location and the required number of bedrooms
and bathrooms. Their search capabilities even extend to the
ability to find the active listings for the particular
street that you would most like to live on. All you have to
do is state your specific needs and the agent searches and
locates homes that match your home buying criteria.
A real estate sales representative is helpful not only in
finding more available homes for sale, but in helping you
to determine whether a home is really worth the asking
price. You may have a general idea of what homes are
selling for in your area, but agents have access to
specialist tools and resources that give them a more
accurate picture of home values. For example, they use
electronic real estate data bases which show all the
details of homes that are sold in a particular
neighbourhood. They can also find out the assessed value
and historic data for a particular property and let you
know what the previous selling prices were for that
property. This information will give you a clear idea of
what a home is really worth.
If you do choose a home and enter into negotiations to buy
it, then the value of a real estate professional will
really be felt. Buying a home is a big commitment of your
savings and you need to sure about the legal issues and
about your rights and responsibilities before you sign any
contract. A real estate agent has experience and background
knowledge and will guide in this crucial stage.
If you rush into an agreement of purchase and sale without
a representative you may discover, afterwards, that you
were not properly informed about your true obligations. It
is safer to have an agent on your side, someone who can
draft the contract in a way that will be advantageous to
you, serving your best interests.
Maybe the best reason to take on the services of an agent
when buying a home is that in most cases, it won't cost you
anything. The reason for this is that the person who sells
his or her home pays a commission to the listing brokerage
who in turn forwards the appropriate portion to the buyer's
brokerage. Normally, you will be getting your
representation services absolutely free of charge.
On the other hand, if you purchase a property by checking
advertisements and calling listing agents directly or
visiting open houses without your own agent the seller is
still going to pay a commission to his or her
representative but you will end up with no representation.
As you can see, the advantages of utilizing an agent to
represent you when buying a property are huge. When you
consider that it doesn't cost you anything then it makes
good sense to find a real estate sales representative as
soon as possible and get on with the work of buying the
home that is just right for you.
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Hamed Mahmood Salehi is a Toronto Real Estate Broker. His
website http://www.FindYourHomeValue.ca/ offers great tips
for home buyers and sellers, free home evaluation, real
estate news and information about Toronto home values.
1 comment:
There are many catches in the process that an individual unfamiliar with the real estate market can`t avoid and as the result of this may pay more than for an agent. I have been working for a real estate company in West Toronto area for many years and I know from practice that people need a guide who is aware of their requirements and help them to realize their plans or even makes suggestions to find a better solution. I think that it`s better to avoid the headache that the difficulties may cause.
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