Why you should use a buyer agent.

Okay, so I was holding an open house this past Sunday in Mt. Adams. (Great, great home; but that's beside the point lol). A young man with a friend, both first-time home buyers, came into the open house to check out the home. They seemed to like the space. I continued to speak with them and get to know them as I do all the people that walk through my open houses. I asked how long he has been looking for a home, he basically answers not very long. I try getting an idea of what kind of home he wants. I then ask him if he is working with a buyer agent yet. He then tells me that he does not want to work with an agent in finding a home. He would prefer to buy a privately marketed home (for sale by owner) while being unrepresented. He believed that he could get a home for 6% less because the owner would not have to pay the fee. I was quite taken by his response in disbelief. I am now posting this article to explain a few reasons why you do not want to go into buying a home unrepresented, especially while buying your first home, and especially especially when dealing with a for sale by owner.

Here are a few reasons why being represented by a Realtor® when buying a home is so important:

1. The agent can give you access to some homes not yet on the market, before the rest of unrepresented buyers see them.
2. The agent makes sure that you get all of the proper documents needed to make a good decision about purchasing a certain home; such as: Property Disclosure form, HOA/COA rules and regulations, Lead-based paint disclosures, and much more.
3. An agent with great negotiation skills (like me lol) can save you good money when putting in an offer.
4. A good agent (again like me) will perform a Comparative Market Analysis on a home before you put in an offer to tell you the home's actual value.
5. Agents will also press to make sure that there is an inspection of the home to make sure the home is suitable for you to live in.
6. Agents also should push for the home to have a Home Warranty to take care of anything that can go wrong with the home after you buy the home.
7. Agents make sure you are pre-approved for a loan to make sure they don't show you anything that you can not afford.
8. We also make sure that there is title insurance so that you can own the title to the home entirely.
9. In addition, many people do not realize that privately marketed homes list their homes without agents because they do not want to pay the Realtor® and they are normally over priced. Meaning that you will not pay less, or "get a deal," on a for sale by owner, you most likely pay more than the home is even worth. An agent will be able to show you how much that house is worth and show you better, well priced comparable properties.

There are many, many more reasons why to use a buyer agent. This article is just the tip of the iceberg. I just really wanted to expose some truths and show people why working with a buyer agent is so critical when buying a home.

What's Going On In Your Real Estate Market?

Many people are wondering what's going on in their market, so I decided to start a series of Quarterly Market Updates for my clients. I will post on here a very brief Quarterly Market update for the following neighborhoods each quarter:
Hyde Park (45208)
Oakley (45209)

& Cincinnati City (45202)

If your would like the full version or a quarterly update for your specific area please fill out the application on the right hand side of the blog.