With today’s technology (like this website), some home buyers may be tempted to skip the step of hiring a buyer’s agent. Here are 6 reasons why it’s in your best interest to be represented by a Beach ProTeam agent.
1 Don’t Settle! Find THE BEST Home
You can’t find THE BEST POSSIBLE HOUSE for you and your family among thousands of homes in hundreds of developments without the help of a good buyer’s agent, period! You just can’t (See below). Our market is too big and complicated. You can certainly find “a house,” but will it be the perfect one for you or just the best you happen to find without the assistance of your own buyer’s agent?
There are almost 2000 home subdivisions in our area and another 2000 condo/townhouse developments. In addition, there are many available new homes that are “hidden inventory” - not in MLS. For resale homes, our agents are already familiar with most of these communities. For ‘new home” neighborhoods, my team is updated daily by agents at dozens of communities about builder incentives such as rate buydowns, closing cost credits, upgrades, and more. It’s not possible for a prospective home buyer to keep up with all of this for all these developments. No matter how much time you spend studying websites and driving around looking at models and open houses, you still won’t be able to match the intricate hyper-local knowledge, professional contacts and thousands of hours of experience of our buyer’s agents.
For new homes, what about the on-site agents? Each is an expert on their community, but their job is to sell you a home in their community, not to assist you in finding your perfect fit from the full range of choices in our area.With our team, you will not lose the assistance of the on-site agent in the community you ultimately choose. You will just be gaining your own agent as well. You will also have the expertise and resources of RE/MAX Southern Shores, with over $1 billion in gross sales year after year.
2 Negotiating the Offer
Once you’ve decided on your perfect property, it’s time to negotiate your purchase offer. A good agent will ensure you get the best deal the market will allow. Price, closing cost incentives, lender rate buy-downs, upgrades, contingencies (home to sell, etc.), approximate closing date and more can all be addressed - although there may be less flexibility with new home builders than with individual sellers. Unless you are buying a FSBO, the seller will be represented by an agent so you need a professional negotiator on your side. If you are purchasing a new home, remember that the on-site agent owes their fiduciary duty to the builder.
3 Closing Process Follow-up
My team will follow up and keep you informed continuously during the closing process. It’s much more complex than most people realize - inspections, appraisals, multiple documents, coordination between lenders, attorneys and sellers and much more. My team averages over 350 touches (calls, texts, meetings, and emails) between the time an offer is submitted and the day the sale closes. We work this hard “behind the scenes” so closings are smooth and easy for our clients (See our Reviews). For new home purchases, our agents maintain close communications with the builder’s agents and can ensure that your requests or concerns are conveyed to the right parties. Although on-site agents want you to have a good buying experience, they represent the builder.
4 Financing
We are experts on local lenders and special programs - recast options, reverse mortgages, first-time homebuyer loans and gift funds, VA loans, and FHA loans. See our Local Lender List.
5 Choosing a Closing Attorney
You will need a South Carolina closing attorney (per state law). We can assist you in choosing the best one for you. For a new home purchase, the builder often recommends a specific attorney and sometimes provides an incentive to use them. This may indeed be the best choice but your buyer’s agent can provide you with alternatives.
6 Move-In Day!
Our team will assist with utility transfers, moving arrangements and all the details and activities necessary to make this new house your home when the big day arrives!
For your time, your money, and your happiness, hire a Beach Pro Team buyer’s agent to represent you for your home purchase!
Tips and Comments:
Hire your buyer’s agent early in the process - before you start contacting listing agents, builders or onsite sales agents or sales offices (for new home purchases). Some builders might even refuse to pay your agent a commission to represent you if you don’t register the agent the first time you contact them. Ideally, it’s best for you to formally hire your buyer’s agent by signing a Buyer Agency Agreement so that all parties know that you are being represented. This also frees you up to contact and visit onsite offices on your own without losing your buyer’s agent’s representation. It’s still best to let the builder’s agent know you are working with an agent.
For new home purchasers - Builder’s agents in our area are typically skilled and knowledgeable about their communities and their assistance is invaluable to the purchase process. Most onsite agents are happy to work with cooperating brokers like ours as long as the buyer’s representation and clear channels of communication are established from the beginning. The members of my Beach Pro Team have built strong, respectful working relationships with agents in numerous developments and we utilize their services to the fullest to ensure smooth transactions.