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How Important is an Agent When Dealing With Toronto Real Estate?

You’re about to make one of the biggest investments of your life, a type of investment you’ve never made before (I assume since you’re reading my buyer’s section), the potential to make a costly and binding mistake is very real without the help of someone trained in real estate.

Agents are professionals who do this for a living

The full-time agents who work in real estate are professionals.  They’ve been through the process countless times and can comfortably guide you through it.  That experience is invaluable when it comes to drafting offers and negotiating.  This will become more apparent when you get a chance to read the Agreement of Purchase and Sale contract and the countless clauses that can be inserted.

Realtors also have access to more properties than those listed on the public MLS site.  So if you’ve been searching around the site on your spare time, know that some properties are not listed but an agent will be able to bring those to your attention.

Make sure you know when you’re overpaying

An agent’s familiarity with properties in different locations helps in assessing the value of a home.  Knowing if an asking price is over or underpriced greatly affects negotiations, not to mention any capital gains you’ll realize from your investment.

Staying objective

When you find the perfect home, it’s easy for your decision making to get clouded by your emotions.  Having that third party assist in drawing up the offer and mediating the negotiations can make all the difference between winning a negotiation at a fair price, or overpaying.

The Service is usually FREE!

As a buyer, you’re usually represented by an agent for free.  The seller usually pays commission for a realtor’s service in selling his/her home.  Why would you not want a trained agent looking after your interest if it’s free?