Some first-time home buyers believe that they can go out and find themselves a house without utilizing the services of an Orlando Realtor in their search. I’ve known many home buyers over the years that have struck out on their own to find a house only to realize that it’s not the way to go and wind up hiring a realtor anyway. Unfortunately, there are just some people that can only learn things the hard way.
Let’s say you found a house on your own, now what? Chances are that the house you found is listed by a real estate agent. Now, if you want to actually look inside the house, you’ll either need your own agent or you’ll have to contact the seller’s agent to show it to you. Here’s the kicker, if the seller’s agent shows you around the house and you decide that you want to make an offer on it then congratulations!…you’ve just hired the seller’s agent to represent you as well. And even though an agent representing both sides of a transaction has an obligation to look out for both buyer and seller equally, you just hired an agent without knowing anything about them. My advice is to drop any notion you have of going through the home buying process without a licensed Orlando realtor. If you are buying a home, the seller is the one that pays for your real estate agent out of their proceeds. That means that it’s not costing you a dime to have a licensed real estate professional help you to find as well as buy your new home for free!
What if it’s a FSBO [for sale by owner]?
One scenario where a buyer and seller can complete a real estate transaction without the use of a real estate agent representing either party is when it’s a FSBO property. In this situation, you would be dealing directly with the seller on your own with no representation from either side. This means that the seller wouldn’t be governed by any of your state’s rules or regulations that a licensed real estate agent would have to abide by. If this doesn’t make you nervous, then it should!
I would never recommend to anyone to enter into a real estate transaction without representation, FSBO or otherwise. Think of it this way… Would you want to represent yourself in a court of law if the other party involved had a lawyer? Of course not, that would be suicide! A buyer’s agent is obligated to look out for the best interest of a buyer from showing properties to negotiating the best price all the way to the closing of the transaction. Unless you are trained on the ins and outs of residential real estate, you could actually end up losing more money than you set out to save by not using an agent. A buyer’s agent will not only ensure that you get the best deal possible on the property but they will stick with you throughout the whole process from reviewing the contract, setting up inspections, dealing with the title company, etc.
