One common mistake many home buyers make is that they call the listing agent for information on a house they like.
The agent listing the house, (the person who put the sign in the yard) works for the sellers only. She does not work for you and you do not want her to work for you. She will blab everything you tell her to the sellers including how much you would pay for the house. In fact that is her job.
If you call a listing agent and tell her anything, she is required to tell the sellers. If she does not, and they find out, they can sue her and her company for a ton of money. If that happens she will probably lose and lose her job and license as well.
Get your own agent: A Buyers agent that will be faithful to you.
And it is a good idea to have an agent on your side that is from a different company than the listing agent. You want your agent to fight on your behalf, not be buddies with the listing agent.
The listing agent might even tell you that it makes no difference and that you do not need another agent. Do not believe it for a second. If you do not use your own agent, the listing agent gets to keep the entire commission paid by the sellers. If you use your own agent, the listing agent has to share the commission with your agent. And if you use your own real estate agent he might share the commission with you. The listing agent almost never shares the commission with the buyers.
You agent does not get paid until you buy a house. So get your own. It does not cost you anything. As the buyer, the seller will pay the real estate commission whether you have an agent representing you or not, so why not have the added back up and someone looking out for you? Especially since it will not cost you anything extra?
If you have your own agent, they will even coach you on what you should offer for the property. A listing agent will never tell you to offer less than the asking price, which is against her contract with the sellers.
You won agent will show you comps. These are homes in the area that are similar to the house you are looking at and at what prices they sold and are for sale for. Using the lower priced comps you can make a case to the sellers to lower their price. If you use the listing agent, she will never show you the lower priced comps. Only the higher priced ones that make her listing look like a bargain.
In many cases, the agent at the open house is the listing agent, so be careful what information you share at an open house. If it can, it will be used against you.
Tip #16 is our series on How To Save Money When Buying A House is to get your own real estate agent. Do not use the listing agent. This tip alone can save you thousands on the price of the home you pay.
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