The Benefits of a Great Real Estate Agent

The Benefits of a Great
Real Estate Agent
By Angela Baca
Photo © Jozsef Szasz - Dreamstime
Real estate agents do more than just help you search for a home; they provide indispensable advice during the entire home-buying process. Here are three ways that your agent will protect your interests in the steps toward buying a home.

1. Finding Your Ideal Home - If you've already searched for a home for several months, you probably have a few prime properties in mind. Your agent will help you sift through your choices to ensure that the property you think you want is really going to serve you well long-term.

As an added bonus, an experienced agent has a knack for sniffing out things like dishonest sellers, lemon houses, and bad deals. Buying a home can present many pitfalls for the inexperienced; having the expertise of a professional will provide peace of mind and ensure that the process goes smoothly.

2. Preparing the Real Estate Offer - You may already be aware of the basic steps toward owning a home, but there are some finer details to drafting and presenting a real estate offer to the seller. A real estate agent guides you in how to prepare your offer and helps you to draft a competitive set of terms that will increase your chance of being accepted by the seller. Some considerations include how much to offer for the home, when to close on the deal, what costs will be paid by each party, and if the seller will add improvements to the home before closing.

3. Closing the Deal - Once a seller has accepted your written offer, there are many steps that must take place before the house will be transferred to you. Since a professional real estate agent has been down this road many times, they will be able to guide you during the major phases of the closing process.

Although an objective third party may draw up all the paperwork and hold the escrow funds until closing, your agent acts solely on your behalf. Don't hesitate to voice your concerns or ask your agent lots of questions to ensure that you get the optimal benefit from the home-buying experience.