You did it!
You bought a house without your own agent!
You even got the seller's agent to credit you the buyer's agent commission since you didn't have an agent!
Congratulations, you just saved a whole LOT of money off your purchase!
Or did you?
You might not want to think about that, but you might not have truly saved a single dollar.
You MIGHT have actually overpaid.
You MIGHT have made a huge purchasing mistake.
So before you go bragging on Facebook about how you did it all without an agent and how much money you saved, let's take a look at a few key facts you may not have taken into account.
1. Homes are OFTEN overpriced, especially in a seller's market. There's room to "give" a bit, make you feel like you got the "win", but still be well over what the market SHOULD bear.
2. How did you arrive at what you thought was the home's value? Did you use an online portal that in really fine print states they've got a +/- 7-12% error range for the market? What if that value was on the high side? And that high side is far greater than any commission check I've ever collected as a buyer's agent.
3. Did you take into account area conditions that could impact future home values? Did you know about the failed school levy? Did you know about the new development down the street that will be your competition if you need to sell sooner than you planned?
4. Did you have a home inspection? Did you know what you could legitimately ask for the seller to repair?
5. Did you think having a one year home warranty "paid for by the seller" would protect you? Did you consider that the seller upped their net bottom line to account for that home warranty and you just financed that expense for the life of your loan?
6. That the listing agent has no obligation to protect you since they work for the seller and "you were you're own agent"?
7. That this list could keep going on and on with things an experienced buyer's agent would know that would be to your benefit?
So stop and check, did you REALLY save money by going without your own agent?
Maybe you got lucky. Maybe...
Helping Greater Cincinnati home sellers and buyers get the most value for their $$,
Bill & Liz aka BLiz
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