Considering how easy technology has made it for us to search for a home ourselves, many feel that it is simply not worth involving an estate agent to help with the buying process. But, having an estate agent help you look will save you time and, quite possibly, spare you some money as well.

Below are a few of the ways real estate agents add value during the home-buying process:

1. TIME SAVERS

Real estate agents do the work so that you do not have to. But, unlike other professions, real estate agents aren’t charging you for this service. Why waste your valuable time searching through thousands of online listings when somebody is willing to do this for you free of charge?      

2. UNLISTED PROPERTIES

Real estate agents are also often privy to listings before they are uploaded to a property portal. It is not completely unheard of to have a property sell before it even reaches the internet. Partnering with an estate agent allows you first pick of any suitable listing as soon as they enter the market.

3. CATFISH LISTINGS

If you’ve ever bought anything online, you’ll know that not all online products live up to their photographs in real life. Estate agents are likely to have seen the property in person, whether they’ve taken previous buyers through it before or are with the same agency/brand that the property is listed with and will know if the property lives up to its online listing.

4. YEARS OF EXPERIENCE

Especially if you’ve partnered with an estate agent who has been in the industry for some time, estate agents will be able to intuit over time what sorts of homes a buyer is looking for, even if the buyers aren’t able to themselves. Through experience, good estate agents will also know which sorts of homes might blow a buyer’s checklist out of the water and become the perfect match despite not meeting all the initial criteria.

5. NEGOTIATING SKILLS

Most importantly, through their suburb expertise and industry experience, estate agents will be able to guide homeowners towards putting the best offer forward. If your initial offer is too low, the seller might reject you altogether which compromises your negotiating skills going forward. If you offer is too high, you’ll have shot yourself in the foot as the buyer would have been willing to accept less. Having an estate agent on your side during this negotiation process will save you both the stress of having to deal with it yourself and the financial burden of fumbling the offer.

So, while it is possible for you to find a home on your own, why take on extra strain when somebody would be more than willing to do it all for you and at no expense to you?