Myth – You Don’t Need a Real Estate Agent
Popular shows on HDTV and advertising based consumer web sites (such as Zillow, Trulia, and REALTOR.com) would like you to believe that you can do all of this home buying yourself from the comfort of your sofa on your iPad. While these are useful and fun resources, you will be best served by interviewing and hiring a professional real estate agent. According the National Association of REALTORs Survey of Home Buyers, recent home buyers listed the following benefits provided by a real estate agent during the home purchase process:
(percent of respondents)
| Buyers: | First-time | Repeat |
| Helped buyer understand the process | 79% | 51% |
| Pointed out unnoticed features/faults with properties | 61% | 52% |
| Negotiated better sales contract terms | 53% | 45% |
| Provided a better list of service providers (e.g. home inspector) | 48% | 47% |
| Improved buyer’s knowledge of search areas | 48% | 43% |
| Negotiated a better price | 39% | 36% |
| Shortened buyer’s home search | 31% | 30% |
| Provided better list of mortgage lenders | 25% | 21% |
| Expanded buyer’s search area | 23% | 19% |
| Narrowed buyer’s search area | 16% | 17% |
| None of the above | 5% | 6% |
| Other | 1% | 2% |
While most home buyers think the primary benefit of a real estate agent is to help them “find a house”, the survey results indicate that the most widely cited benefits relate to their agent’s contributions in education, experience, negotiation, and local market knowledge of both housing and qualified professionals to rely on throughout the process.
Additional Home Buyer Resources
