Don't Buy a Home Without a Buyers Agent!

Most first time home buyers think they don't need a separate agent to help them choose a home. It may even seem silly to have someone else find and buy a home for them and they also assume they have to pay a person for this. But this is a mistake. Having a buyers agent can actually save the buyer hundreds if not thousands of dollars when buying a home. Here's why.

Let's lay down a scenario with a buyers agent and without:

A potential buyer is out looking for homes and finds an open house to tour. They have already been pre-approved by their lender for a $200,000 loan. So they know to keep the price range within this cost. They find a home for $190,000 and the listing agent is sitting the open house and greets the potential buyer. They tour the home and the buyer decides on placing an offer. The buyer knows the house has been on the market a while and noticed some work to be done. The listing agent asks the buyer if they have already talked to a lender and the buyer informs the agent they have a pre-approval letter for $200,000 ready to go. The buyer informs the agent how much they love the house but knows it will need some work so the buyer offers $160,000 on the home. The listing agent is well aware of the financial situation of the seller and knows the seller needs almost full price to break even, but keeps this information private.

The listing agent then takes the offer to the seller and informs the seller (whom was the agent's first client) that the buyer is approved for well over the purchase price and really loves the home. The agent recommends to the seller to ask for full price with a condition to fix some issues. The seller agrees and the counter offer is returned to the buyer. The agent then informs the buyer that the seller will gladly repair any issues but is in great need of a full price or the offer will get turned down. The buyer can only assume this is correct and agrees to the counter offer now paying $30,000 more than originally offered.

Now let's put this in the perspective if the buyer had their own agent.

If the buyer entered the open house on their own but with a buyers agent the listing agent would have to ask about this and when informed of the presence of a buyers agent, needs to back off from the buyer. If the buyer liked the home, they would have the buyers agent write up the offer with a custom pre-approval letter from the lender stating the buyer is approved for just the amount offered. Nothing more. This is legal and it keeps the cards close to the buyers hand by not letting the sellers know the buyer can actually afford more. 

When the offer is presented at $30,000 less than asking price the seller knows the home needs work and has been on the market a while. They also don't know how well the buyer likes the home and may back out at any time. The seller then agrees to the lower price and the the buyer has just saved $30,000!

This is a simply example but most situations are similar. The information that is not required to be divulged isn't. The buyers agent keeps the information on the buyer confidential unless required. This is a great negotiating skill and really helps the buyer find the right house at the right price.

PLUS - The biggest  benefit is that the buyer pays nothing to the agent for thier services. The buyers agent gets paid from the commission on the house sold. The agent only wants what the buyer wants because they will get paid from the seller of whichever home the buyer chooses. It really is no loss to the buyer.

For more information on this and any Las Cruces home or agent please contact us anytime!