Often, buyers feel that they don’t need a REALTOR®, and they can just call the listing agents directly.

Their logic is, “If I am using the listing agent, I can probably get a better deal since the listing agent can probably be flexible on their commission since they are getting both sides.”

That is not really the case. Yes, some agents might cut their commission a little, while some won’t. (So you may not get much of a savings.)

When you make an offer, if you have a buyer’s agent, they will run comparables, and help you get educated on the market values in the neighborhood.

With no buyer’s agent, and you just going through the listing agent, if the market value is lower than the asking price, I doubt the listing agent is going to encourage you to offer that lower price. They are going to push you as close to the listing price as possible, so they can appease their seller as well.

Ok, so let’s say you do get a small savings by using the listing agent.

That’s only half of the situation. You have to go through inspections and appraisal.

What is going to happen when something comes up in the inspection? Who is going to help you with that? Do you think the listing agent is going to help you negotiate hard with that seller?

Not as much as a buyer’s agent would.

The same thing goes for the appraisal. The seller wants as much as they can for it, while the buyer wants to get the best “value,” and pay as little as possible.

This is a very simple concept, and a very basic post. In Florida, the seller pays the REALTORS®. So if you have a buyer’s agent, you only pay them a small transaction fee (usually a couple hundred dollars) at closing.

In the end, you might actually get a better deal using a buyer’s agent. If there are inspection or appraisal issues, they will fight a lot harder for you than that listing agent will. They also could have you making a way better offer than you would have if you had just gone through the listing agent directly.

You need someone looking out for your needs as a buyer. So get a buyer’s agent if you want to get a good deal on a property.