The benefits of hiring a real estate agent to help you in buying a house are many. They do however cost some money once the transaction goes through. This cost is normally a percentage of the final sale price. It sounds very high, but they are worth every penny you pay them. In fact, that is the exact reason why I wrote this article in the first place. To let you know how important real estate agents are when you’re buying a house.

So, without any further ado, here are 5 benefits of a real estate agent you didn’t know about:

  1. They are good negotiators

Real estate agents can easily tell whether or not a property has been over price or not. If it is, then they can then negotiate to a much reasonable price. With the help of an analysis of all comparable properties in the neighboring community, the real estate agent can come up with a price that is not too low, but reasonable and comparable to the value of properties surrounding them.

  1. Ability to ask for repairs from sellers

You can trust that a real estate agent has the best interest of ensuring that your home buying experience is a good one.  This is why if there are any damages that are either hiding out of sight or are very visible; they know how to persuade the seller to have the repairs done. And if they can’t persuade them to do that, then it becomes another negotiating point through which they can lower the price of the house even more.

  1. Ability to meet your needs

A real estate agent is normally familiar with the local community because they are most likely members. Their vast knowledge with the community owners and the area’s history gives them an advantage of knowing which houses are on sale. This enables him/her to easily find a house that meets your specifications faster than you would have if you decided to look for a house yourself.

  1. Help in all the necessary paperwork

They make sure that all transactions go through successfully. All these transactions include paperwork. From ensuring that all the repair requests are in writing to reading through and understanding the inspection reports, they have got you covered. For someone who is not a real estate agent, he/ she would be limited in experience in all these documents required when buying a home. And believe me, that is not a good thing to have.

  1. They have a good list of service providers

Hiring a real estate agent means that you also include a list of preferred service providers whom they have worked with before. This also means that this list is a team that the real estate agent trusts. This ensures that you get quality service. This list can be plumbers, painters, landscapers, home inspectors, etc.

All in all, if you decide to hire a real estate agent to help you make this big step of buying a house, make sure you do all the research necessary.  Ensure that the real estate agent has vast experience and is registered with the National Association of Realtors. Ensure that they have a good reputation with previous clients they have worked with. This is the only way to make sure that your real estate agent is ethically bound and hence will make sure that you get the best services.