Ro Troia

Why You Shouldn’t Hire A Real Estate Agent!

 Just last week I received a call from a buyer who wanted to see one of our listings.  From our phone conversation alone, I could tell she had something against real estate agents.  Maybe she is always trite and condescending to everyone, but I didn’t think so. I had a feeling it was just directed at me. I took a long deep breath as I drove from our office in Boulder Colorado down to Denver where the bank owned property is located.   I tried not to make assumptions, entering into the situation with an open mind.  Of course, I brought other comps in the neighborhood that fit her criteria.  Several times I tried to turn this lead and win her over with my charm.  Of course she found me impeccably charming, but it unfortunately came down to this one response, “We don’t use real estate agents, we buy our own houses”!  This led me ponder all the reasons why you should NOT use a real estate agent.  Read more.

Reason #1

You love to search the Internet for hours on end.   You adore sitting in front of the computer endlessly searching for properties and spending hours in the car driving around aimlessly, arguing with your significant other, and getting lost.  If you haven’t figured it out by now, I’m being sarcastic!  Real estate agents have access to at least one Multiple Listing Service, the most important site for property searching.  This is one-stop shopping in my opinion.  Your agent can set you up an account to view properties that match your criteria.  The MLS has access to public records, extra pictures, information on comps, maps, history, saved searches, and open house schedules.  How dare agents do such a thing!

Reason #2 to not hire an agent

You like to be vulnerable and unrepresented in the serious legal exchange of purchasing a home.  Making an offer on a property is serious business and should not be taken lightly Maybe you like being taken advantage of.  Not!  Whether you are the buyer or the seller, it’s more than likely that the other party will be represented by an agent.  One that is educated on making and receiving offers.  Who on your end is going understand concessions and discount points and seller-assisted down-payments?  How are you sure that everything is fair and appropriate?  There are sneaky people in every business, you need protection when up against them.  When you’re sick, you hire a doctor.  When you’re buying or selling real estate, you hire a real estate agent. 

Reason #3 

You think it more enjoyable to work with a lawyer.  If you don’t hire an agent, you better hire an attorney to look over that contact.  Have fun.  That’s not only tedious but expensive.

 Reason #4  You hate free things.  When you are working with a buyers agent, you don’t pay them because they receive a commission from the listing agents commission.  I know it sounds awful but that’s the why it works.  The sellers pay the buyers agent to bring them a buyer.   Specifically, in general the listing agent is paid a 6%-7% commission.  Then, the buyers agent is paid 2.8%-3.0% of that.  When buying, it just doesn’t make sense to do it on your own. 

Reason #5 to not hire an agent:  You have plenty of time to research inspectors, title insurance companies, lawyers, appraisers, and mortgage brokers.  Then, you have plenty of time left over to arrange scheduling of appointments, showings, and closings.  Gee, I sure hope you don’t have a job because you just won’t have the time.  Really, why take the time to learn the skills to buy or sell when you can hire a qualified real estate agent to do it all for you? 

Tags: Tags: agent, boulder colorado, first-time home buyers, location, mortgage, real estate

This entry was posted on Sunday, September 14th, 2008 at 9:14 am and is filed under Buyer's Corner, First Time Buyers, Focus on Boulder, Real Estate Tales. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

1. Judy Peterson said at September 15th, 2008 at 11:24 am

   Very funny! How true it is.

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