What does a real estate agent really do
I'm not sure that many real estate consumers understand what real estate agents do to earn a commission and I'm not sure that many care if an agent gets paid, I think the only thing buyers really care about is buying a house. First of all, a real estate agent only gets paid if and when the sale closes. They aren't salaried, they pay their own expenses and they risk their time and effort in every real estate transaction. The seller has traditionally paid the commission to both the listing agent and the selling (buyer) agent so there really isn't any cost to using a buyers agent (other than the obvious fact that the seller does pay the commission out of the funds provided by the buyer).
Now some people might think that if they could cut out the middleman (buyer agent) and deal directly with the listing agent (a concept called disintermediation), the seller will reduce the price of the house by the amount of commission due to the buyers agent but it generally doesn't work that way whether you are talking about new construction or a preowned home. In new construction, the site agent can be very helpful to you but the commission that was reserved for the buyer agent just gets saved by the builder. With a preowned home, the listing agent will just keep the commission for both sides of the transaction or actually reduce the commission the seller was scheduled to pay. It might result in a slightly lower sales price but the cost of no representation might be higher than the apparent savings. After all, do you have enough information to really evaluate the value of the home.
A lot of people might think that all a real estate agent does is stick a for sale sign in the yard and enter some stuff in the MLS and presto, the house is sold. On the buyer side, some may think the agent just drives people around, opens the door of a few houses, writes a contract and shows up at the closing and leaves with a big check. If only it were that easy.
The work actually begins after the home is selected as a negotiating strategy has to be decided upon, prices paid for similar homes has to be analyzed and an offer has to be written best protecting the client. The agent then negotiates the best possible deal for the client and once the contract is ratified, the inspection process begins along with obtaining the most favorable mortgage. A good (or excellent) real estate agent knows who the best inspectors are and knows the best lenders to use. Should any repairs be required, that must then be negotiated. Bottom line, there is still more to do but you get the idea, it's a long way from contract to closing.