Do I Really Need a Realtor to Buy a Home?
Do I really need a Realtor to buy a home? As a full time Realtor, I get asked this question all the time. It?s a great question after all. With all the information so available online, many people believe they don?t really need an agent to purchase a home. There are certainly an ample number of stories of buyers who ?go it alone? and do perfectly well purchasing without representation. Unfortunately, there are many more stories of buyers making huge mistakes because they didn?t initially see the need to have a Realtor represent them. If you?ve found yourself pondering this same question, here are a few reasons you may want to at least consider hiring a professional Realtor: 1) Code of Ethics I hope you noticed that I said Realtor and not real estate agent. There is a difference. All Realtors are lice Property Buyers nsed to sell real estate as an agent or broker, but not all real estate agents are Realtors. In order to display the Realtor logo, we must be members of the National Association of Realtors and pledge to follow a Code of Ethics. This code establishes a level of conduct that is higher than ordinary business practices or those required by law. Only about half of all licensees are Realtors. 2) Experience You don?t have to know everything there is to know about buying real estate as long as you hire the right person. Most Realtors specialize in a certain part of town or in a certain type of real estate. For example, some agents work with first time homebuyers, or the condo market or luxury homebuyers, etc. You get my drift. Pick a Realtor that knows the market and earns their living working with clients in real estate.