You’ve been deciding to buy a house and wondered whether it was a good idea to use a dedicated buyer’s agent while looking. After all, can’t the agent who listed the house help you? Well, that may not be such a good idea, and here’s why.

Dedicated buyer’s agent represents only you

The biggest reason why you need a buyer’s agent is because that agent represents you and only you. A listing agent represents the seller, and while they seem helpful when showing you the house, they don’t have your best interests at heart.

A buyer’s agent will walk you through the buying process, give you advice, schedule appointments, answer your questions about properties and negotiate and write up offers on your behalf. The best part is that you don’t pay for it. They earn their commission by splitting it with the listing agent.

Would you use the same attorney?

Here is one way to think about it. If you got sued, would you use the same attorney as the people who sued you? As in a legal situation like a lawsuit, a legal situation like the sale of a piece of real estate means you are entitled to your own representation during the buying process.

Representation in your interest

During the buying process, you get representation that is all in your interest, and it costs you nothing. Pretty sweet! So why does it cost nothing? And how can that mean the agent is on your side if you aren’t paying them? Yes, they work with the listing agent to sell the home to you. So when you purchase your home, in most places, the realtors would receive a 6% commission. 3% goes to the listing agent for listing it and 3% goes to your agent for helping you through the buying process. So while you aren’t paying them, it doesn’t matter whose property they show you, they make the same 3% commission. That’s why they stay loyal to you, not the property seller.

You won’t regret the help if you hire a buyer’s agent to find your new home.