Reply to Why do we need a real estate agent?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]yes, the price is obviously factored into the sale price, but at the end the sale price depends on the market, the seller cannot inflate the sale price to gets the net money he/she wants after the expenses, or nobody will buy the house.

the seller normally has an exclusive agreement with the seller's agent under which the seller will give 6% (or 5% or whatever they agree on) to the seller's agent, percentage that will be split with the buyer's agent if the buyer has an agent. so if you show up without an agent, the seller is not going to lower the sale price, since the seller normally is still obligated to pay the entire commission to the seller's agent.

thus, especially for an inexperienced buyer, going without an agent does not make any sense, you do not save anything, the seller's agent gets the entire commission and you still pay the same price you would pay if you had an agent. the market for SFH in good areas of DC, MD and VA has been very tight in the past year or so, with homes selling the day they go on the maket and with multiple offers. in a situation like that, without an agent you do not go very far. if you need to wait for the open house to be able to see a house (without an agent, how do you get in?), sometimes it is going to be too late.

going without an agent can make sense in some cases, like if you are a very experienced home buyers, you know the market, and find a seller who wants to sell without an agent, then you can both save if you agree to split the amount of the commission. but in your situation, and especially at your price point, it really does not make sense. [/quote]

The exclusiviety agreement is just a scare tactic to frighten home buyers away from negotiating down the commission. If the unrepresented buyer has the highest offer price, it is strongly in both the seller and the buyer's interest to negotiate down or force a return of a portion of the commission, and after they make that demand, it is in the seller's agent's interest to give some ground.

With that being said, I agree that real estate agents have implemented a wide range of techniques to make it extraordinarily difficult for people to go unrepresented. Indeed, Redfin still can't legally operate in multiple states since realtors got state legislatures to adopt scammy regulations requiring no return of comission or a minimum commission. Meanwhile, realtors will refuse to show houses to unrepresented buyers, make it difficult for you to see homes, etc. So OP is probably best off hiring a realtor and then trying to squeeze some commission versus attempting to fight through a crappy system.[/quote]

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