Buying a home without a real estate agent
... is of course possible and is growing in popularity. It's not terribly surprising for two reasons, first of all, today's Charleston home buyer has more information available than ever before and secondly, real estate agents are not generally viewed in a very positive light by the public, slightly higher than a used car salesperson by some polls.
But is it really a smart way to go.
Many house hunters visit new home communities and simply let the site agent help them buy a home. Some may think that the site agent is good enough to work with but what they sometimes don't realize is that the site agent represents the seller who is the builder. And while you'll certainly be treated fairly, you aren't necessarily going to get a discount for not having an agent who would have gotten paid a commission for bringing you to the community.
Now what might an agent do for you anyway when you're buying a new home.
You'll be making lots of decisions from selecting a lot, floor plan and upgrades but very few people consider resale when making these choices yet that is when a poor selection today can potentially come back to haunt you. The future buyer of your home will be analyzing your choices when deciding if and for how much to buy your home for. So probably the number one thing that a real estate agent can do for you when buying a new home is to eliminate the emotion and provide a professional opinion of the home you are considering.
Now, how about buying a preowned home and going it alone.
Despite all the information available on the Internet, some buyers still don't know that when they contact the listing agent that the agent is working for the seller and their responsibility is to sell the home for the highest possible price. And once again, while you'll be treated fairly, your interests are not being either represented or protected. And I hate to tell you but you're not going to have as much information about home values if you're using Zillow instead of a Charleston real estate agent who has access to much better information as well as being able to interpret the data for you. And even if you think you're the world's greatest negotiator, an agent can not only help you develop a strategy but also deliver your offer and subsequent counteroffers in an emotionally detached manner.
A note about buyer agent commissions. Buyers agents are paid by the seller through the listing agent so the services of a buyer agent is essentially free with the usual disclaimer, the seller is paying the commission from the proceeds of the sale brought to the closing by the buyer and their mortgage.