Sarasota Real Estate Information: 7 Reasons You Are Not Working With a Realtor® To Buy A Home (And Why That is a Mistake)

By: Alex Morel

7 reasons you are not currently working with a Buyer’s Agent:

You don’t trust real estate agents.
You have bought a home in the past and know what to do.
You cannot afford to pay the real estate agent’s fee.
You can search and find homes on the internet yourself.
You will just work with the agent who listed the home for sale.
You are waiting for your dream home to come on the market before you contact an agent.
I’m buying a new construction home and will work with builder’s sales agent.

If you are trying to buy a home without the help of a professional Realtor® you may ultimately be hurting your chances of finding and buying the home of your dreams. You may also be hurting your pocket book in the process. Let me explain why you should be using a Realtor®.

(We hope by the time you make it through the reasons below you will come to the same realization that most buyers come to: it is in your best interest to work with a reputable and experienced Buyer’s Agent.)

You don’t trust real estate agents. Maybe you heard from a friend or family member about how bad their experience was with their Realtor®. Maybe you have worked with a Realtor® and your experience wasn’t the best. It is true for some people that their outlook towards real estate agents is about as low as car salesmen or attorneys. Unfortunately a bad apple does spoil the bunch for some people, and you better believe their bad experience will be broadcast to everyone they know. Buying a home is the largest purchase most people will make in their lifetime and it is a very emotional time. If it does not go as planned, or if their Realtor® isn’t living up to their expectations, things can go bad very quick. On the other hand there are some who have had a great experience with their Realtor®. They also tell their friends about how great their Realtor® and experience was. So what gives? Are real estate agents good or bad? Well, it depends on who you ask and how their experience was with the Realtor® they used. But keep in mind; a Realtor® is bound to a code of ethics. If a Realtor® is caught acting unethically it will cost them big time and could even lead to a revocation of their license.

You have bought a home in the past and know what to do. While buying a home does give you some insight into the process, it is not something one does often enough in their lifetime to completely understand or even be aware of the processes or pitfalls. There are many things to consider before you buy, and let’s not forget that every state, city, neighborhood and association has different rules, regulations and practices. A Realtor® is knowledgeable of all aspects of the transaction and they are required to complete continuing education in law and practice to better serve you. Having an experienced and up to date agent working only on your behalf, and not the sellers, is to your advantage.

You cannot afford to pay the Realtor® fee. When it comes to buying a home you have to be prepared for upfront costs and closing costs associated with the purchase. You will have to account for inspections, an appraisal, a survey, utility deposits, lender fee’s, taxes, Realtor® fee, etc. If you are on a tight budget the best thing you could possibly do is work with a Realtor®. Here’s why. A resourceful Realtor® can direct you to lower cost servicers, help strategize to get some of the closing costs covered or explore the possibility of rolling costs into the mortgage. The Realtor® fee is generally nominal ($300 to $400 due at closing) and a good Realtor® will probably save you more than $1,000 before you even close on the transaction. (See how much we have saved our clients on average below.)

You can search and find homes on the internet yourself. With the advances and availability of technology you can now search the internet for available homes while sitting in your pajamas or on your lunch break at work. (Gone are the days of needing a Realtor® to show you what properties are available for sale by going through their private database and then driving you around to homes that match your specified criteria. Can you imagine?) While this is true, working with a Realtor® still has its advantages. Real estate agents are the first to know about new listings and are provided with the new information in real time through their private database. Searching through home listings on 3^rd party websites like Zillow and Trulia (quite possibly the most visited websites among active home buyers) puts you at a disadvantage as new home listings are not typically syndicated and added to these types of websites for up to 24-48 hours after they are entered in the Multiple Listing Service (MLS). So to the buyer not working with a Realtor® who is waiting for the home of their dreams to show up on Zillow, there is another buyer who is working with a Realtor® who has already received your dream home 2 days before you will see it on Zillow and has already visited it and executed a purchase agreement to buy it. Bummer.

You will just work with the Realtor® who listed the home for sale. Ok, so you are lucky enough to find a home that has not already gone under contract with another buyer. You have it in your mind that you can just work with the listing agent who is advertising the home for sale. You may even think you will get a better deal by dealing directly with the seller’s Realtor®. While you could get a good deal, the likelihood is not very great. What you have not considered is that the listing agents’ first duty is to the seller, their client. They already promised to get the seller the best deal possible and the seller trusted them enough to do so. Question: How can the seller’s Realtor® get the buyer the best deal possible when they are trying to get the seller the best deal possible? Hmmmm? Also, the seller’s Realtor® cannot guide you on the subject properties value and they cannot negotiate or guide you with your best interests in mind. This would be a conflict of interest. Only a buyer’s agent can do those things for you, and you should also have a Realtor® representing your best interests. It is as simple as that. (See how much we have saved our clients on average below.)

You are waiting for your dream home to come on the market before you contact a Realtor®. As mentioned above, people who are only using third party websites like Zillow and Trulia may ultimately miss out on the home of their dreams because a buyer who is already working with a Realtor® has already seen your dream home and has it under contract before you even knew it was available. When you work with a Realtor® they can easily set you up with an account that has an automatic property alert through their private database. As soon as a new home hits the MLS you will be alerted by either the Realtor® who is notified by the system or an automatic e-mail will be sent to you once the system matches the property to your specified criteria. You are ultimately in a better position to land the home of your dreams when working with a Realtor®.

I’m buying a new construction home and will work with builder’s sales agent. While it doesn’t seem necessary to have an outside real estate agent represent you in a new construction purchase, consider a few reasons you should. A Realtor® can guide you and inform you about all new construction builders and their communities and what they offer. A Realtor® can negotiate on your behalf with the builder’s sales agent. A Realtor® will be available throughout the build process since most new construction agents move from site to site and you could lose contact with your representative. A Realtor® has outside resources if you end up needing them, including attorneys, inspectors and other service providers. A Realtor® will be a helpful resource after the sale is complete and won’t disappear or not return calls once they have you under contract. A Realtor® will represent your interests in the transaction, not the builders.

Buyer’s Agent duties to the customer (Our promise to you):

Dealing honestly and fairly.
Accounting for all funds.
Using skill, care and diligence in the transaction.
Disclose all known facts that materially affect the value of the property that we are made aware of.
Present all offers/counteroffers in a timely manner.
Confidentiality.
Any other duties mutually agreed to.

We are full-time agents; this is not our retirement career nor is this a second job while also waiting tables. Collectively we have been full-time real estate agents going on 15 years. We were also born and raised in Sarasota and we know the area and the market very well.

On average The Sarasota Native Group® has helped customers save 3% off the list price (or $3,000 for every $100,000) using our years of negotiating experience and knowledge of the local real estate market. (This does not include helping buyers save money by recommending trusted service providers in the area. Our contacts become your contacts.)

Are you not seeing your dream home on the market? Contact us to discuss the possibility of having our team target off-market homes that have high selling potential that match your specific criteria. We only provide this service to committed customers because of the time and effort we put into finding the home of their dreams.

The Sarasota Native Group® will negotiate to get you the best deal possible and we would be delighted to work with you and anyone you know who is currently looking to purchase a home.