Once upon a time, when you wanted to buy a house, it was customary for the deal to be orchestrated by one Realtor, the listing agent; nowadays things are a little different and it is considered uncommon for a real estate deal to go on that doesn’t have both a listing and a buyer’s agent involved.
You might wonder why two agents might be required for this kind of deal; doesn’t the listing agent orchestrate the whole thing just fine? Well, the easy answer to that is no; it might be easy to have a single agent transaction, but it’s definitely not a fair transaction from the perspective of both sides of the deal.
A listing agent is legally obligated to protect the interests of the parties who hired them. This means that if you are buying a home using only the listing agent, you are not being properly represented. The listing agent is legally obligated to reveal certain things, like any defect that the home might have that they know about; however, a listing agent is not obligated to offer you any information that you could use to your advantage in the bargaining process.
Having your own buyer’s agent can assist you in many ways. Since the buyer’s agent works for you, any information they know about the home you want to buy or the sellers who own it works to your advantage. Also, since you’re dealing with an agent who’s accountable to you, they cannot disclose any information to the listing agent that would cause you to lose your bargaining position. For example, if you wanted to buy a home but needed to close within six weeks due to having sold your own home, then a listing agent could use that information against you when you make an offer on a home and tell the home owners who might then refuse your bid in hopes that you’ll offer them more because you have a time constraint.
Don’t be worried that using a buyer’s agent will cost you a lot of money to hire; buyer’s agents split the commission that the listing agent would get from the home sellers. Usually the commission that is paid out on the sale of a home is 6% of the price; a listing agent and buyer’s agent will normally each get half of that commission. So, you can see that it’s well in your best interest to have an agent in your corner during a real estate negotiation and is no added expense to you at all. Don’t hesitate to secure a buyer’s agent before you start looking at homes!
Visit TommyPennington.com to search for Westlake Texas MLS listings. Our team of Southlake real estate agents will be happy to provide expert advice to help you get the most out of today's housing market.
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