If you’re buying a house you can, of course, do it on your own without an agent, but most buyers don’t. In fact, nearly 89% of home buyers use a real estate agent for some very good reasons. Working with an agent gives you the benefit of an experienced professional to help you navigate the complicated home search and home purchase processes, and buyers who work with an agent typically wind up getting a better deal, often in the form of a lower purchase price. So let’s take a look at the top 5 benefits of working with an agent when buying a house in Atlanta.
1. Assistance With Price
it’s often difficult for people buying a house in Atlanta, especially first-time buyers, to know exactly what a house is worth and, consequently, what they should pay for it.
Certainly, you can go online and get a very rough idea of what a house similar to the one you’re interested in is worth. But these online estimators are notoriously inaccurate. An experienced agent, though, has the knowledge and expertise to determine exactly what a house is worth and whether it is overpriced or underpriced.
Your agent can perform a comparative market analysis to determine the exact market value of a house. To discover more about this, consult a Atlanta agent at (404) 977-5054.
2. Finding Unadvertised Houses
Agents have access to the MLS, but they also know about homes that haven’t been officially listed yet. And this is a huge benefit for anyone buying a house because it can allow you to jump in and make an offer ahead of all the other competition.
Some sellers just don’t want the fact that they’re selling publicized. Whether it’s for a personal reason, owing to a divorce, a just a need for privacy, these sellers don’t list their homes in places like the MLS. But a good agent will still have access to these homes that you would otherwise miss.
3. Negotiation Skills
And an agent’s negotiating skills are a huge boon for those buying a house in Atlanta or anywhere else.
One great advantage of having an agent to take care of negotiations is that your agent can keep emotions out of the equation and operate on reason and objectivity. No matter how level-headed a buyer may think she is, the likelihood of emotion getting in the way of the best deal is just too great. And that’s where an agent can help – by negotiating the best deal possible for her client without the hindrance of emotion.
4. Assistance with Repair Requests
In a similar vein, a benefit of working with an agent when buying a house is that your agent will typically be more successful when requesting repairs. The dance of requesting repairs can be one of the touchiest aspects of a real estate transaction.
An agent will know how to read the inspection report and then determine which repairs should be requested of the seller. Some repairs are worth pursuing, and some just aren’t worth the trouble. And requesting too much in the way of repairs can sour the deal. Your agent can guide you in this and suggest which repairs you should actually stand firm on.
5. Closing Guidance
The final step in buying a house is closing. It’s also the stage at which many things can go wrong for those buying a house.
When you’re nearing closing, you want to make sure that nothing comes up to delay the finalization of the transaction, things such as title issues or needed documents forgotten. Agents are used to heading off such issues and can usually work through any challenge that happens to arise.
Buying a House With a Atlanta Agent
As you can see, then, there are some genuine benefits to working with an agent. And we didn’t even mention that buyers who work with an agent often get a better deal on the purchase price than those who go it alone. If you plan on buying a house in Atlanta and want to enjoy the benefits of working with an experienced agent, contact us today at (404) 977-5054.