Author: Hamed Mahmood Salehi Added: June 12, 2008
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.
--- 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.
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