Do You Need a Real Estate Agent to Buy, Sell or Rent a Property?

Navigating a real estate process is tricky business. The web has made it possible to do a lot of the legwork yourself, but there’s no substitute for an experienced professional. A crack negotiator who knows the market can save you time, money and heartache by helping you make the right offer—playing hardball when necessary—and staying on top of the process. The process of buying or renting property is complex, and most people find it's easiest to get through with an agent by their side. Paperwork will be flying around like a small tornado, and it can be helpful to have someone familiar with the process to deal with it. Other parts of the transaction will be happening quickly too. All of this is second nature to an experienced agent.

The process of buying or renting property is complex, and most people find it's easiest to get through with an agent by their side. Paperwork will be flying around like a small tornado, and it can be helpful to have someone familiar with the process to deal with it. Other parts of the transaction will be happening quickly too. All of this is second nature to an experienced agent. What's more, experienced real estate agents usually have contacts with official institutions, mortgage loan brokers, and others who can make your buying process easier. And they know what's considered appropriate behavior and practice in your preferable area.

It's true that anyone can shop for a house, and even get a peek inside, without formally signing on with a real estate agent. But unless you have time to make home shopping a part-time job, an agent might be able to match you with the perfect property much faster. If you're looking for something specific, a real estate agent is the person whose job it is to know if there's a property out there to fit your needs, and he or she will hold your hand through the deal to boot.

Let's look at some of the top benefits of using an agent to buy, sell or rent a property.

Pricing Expertise

Most real estate agents can set a price on a property the minute they walk through the door. If they have a lot of experience in a market, they know how well a neighborhood holds its value, too. While anyone can spend a few minutes online and pull information on sales of comparable houses, real estate agents have the experience to know whether a specific property is overpriced or underpriced. In the best-case scenario, an agent will have such a good idea of what you're looking for that she won't even waste your time showing houses and apartments that won't work.

Not only can agents provide all the data on local residential market that you want to see, but they can also bring assets to the deal that come from years of watching waves of transactions in the neighborhood.

Contracts Can Be Hard To Handle

If you decide to buy sell or rent a property, the offer to contract is there to protect you and ensure that you are able to back out of the deal if certain conditions aren’t met. An experienced real estate agent deals with the same contracts and conditions on a regular basis, and is familiar with which conditions should be used, when they can safely be removed and how to use the contract to protect you, whether you’re buying or renting a property.

Negotiating Is Tricky Business

Many people don’t like the idea of doing a real estate deal through an agent and feel that direct negotiation between buyers and sellers, or tenants and leaser is more transparent and allows the parties to better look after their own best interests. This is probably true–assuming that all parties in a given transaction are reasonable people who are able to get along. Unfortunately, this isn’t always an easy relationship.

A real estate agent can also play the bad guy in a transaction, preventing the bad blood between all parties that can kill a deal. Keep in mind that a seller can reject a potential buyer’s offer for any reason–including just because they hate his or her guts. An agent can help by speaking for you in tough transactions and smoothing things over to keep them from getting too personal. This can put you in a better position to get the property you want. The same is true for the seller, who can benefit from a hard-nosed real estate agent who will represent their interests without turning off potential buyers who want to niggle about the price.

Now, we understand that not everyone is in a position to look for their next property on their own. Maybe they don’t live in the City they are moving to, or maybe they don’t feel confident in negotiating that kind of a transaction on their own. For those people, we recommend using a Real Estate Agent to help them through the process. And when you get into a difficult situation, it can really pay to have a professional on your side.