Quote:
Originally Posted by newts
This may be a good example on why to use a buying agent, which was the original question.
I recently represented a client on a purchase. As we were writing the offer I asked if they had an idea of where they'd like to start in terms of a first purchase offer price. They gave me their number, which was well below the list price, but I suggested that we offer about $20,000 lower vs. their number. My estimation was based on what I have been seeing in the last couple of months with offers in this price range with my listings, and with listings I have bid on, on behalf of clients. I see lots of offers on both the buy & sell side, so obviously you get a feel for it.
We ended up getting the property for less than what my clients suggested they wanted to go in with their first bid. If they would have chased the property without representation, in all likelihood they would have paid a lot more.
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This has happened to me before, although not with numbers quite that big. The savings from getting 5k off the purchase price that I wouldn't have otherwise got were about equal to what my buyer's agent grossed on the deal. So even if I could have saved all the buyer's commission (which is doubtful) I still came out ahead/even.
It's like anything else. You can choose to do it yourself, but it's way harder. If you think it'll be easy, try it. I have, and now I always use a buyer's agent, because it's a huge time savings.