Meet All The Players On Your Real Estate Team
It can take several people working together to make a real estate deal happen successfully. You don't have to be a first-time buyer to feel some puzzlement at similar-seeming real estate professionals and others. To help you sort out those who you will be depending on to get you into the home of your choice, read below.
The Real Estate Agent or Broker
Real estate agents can also be brokers, but that is not always how it happens. Most agents have to work under a broker. Brokers may own an agency, but that varies. All agencies must have at least one broker, however. When it comes to the financial side of things, real estate agents working with a broker will usually share common expenses like administrative personnel, a desk, and other things that go with an office. Agents working under a broker also have to hand over some of their commissions to a broker. Agents may also be responsible for paying taxes, automobile expenses, for business cards, and more.
A Buyer's Agent
Buyers can use either a seller's agent or a buyer's agent. There are probably more seller's agents than those who specialize in working for buyers only. When you work with an agent to find a home, you never have to pay a fee or commission, whether they work for you or the seller. That fee is paid by the home seller and is divided as many ways as needed to cover all agents working with the sale. No matter who you use, you can count on agents to know the local real estate market from top to bottom and to be on top of any issue that could influence your home search. Realtors® are agents that have earned the recognition of the National Board of Realtors®. Sellers with the ® after their name have earned high levels of respect through their adherence to strict ethics practices, real estate law expertise, and knowledge of local markets.
Auxiliary Real Estate Players
Others that buyers encounter during the process of buying a home include:
- Surveyors who measure the property.
- Appraisers who value the property.
- Home inspectors who evaluate the property's major systems.
- Pest and termite experts who check the home for the presence of pests and the damage they can cause.
- Home insurance agents who sell policies to cover fire, wind, and other types of damage.
- Title search specialists who do a thorough search for the property owners and issue title insurance to cover any title problems.
Start your home search by talking with a real estate agent about what you envision in your next home and let them guide you through the process.
For more information, contact an agency like The Dave Hooke Team: Keller Williams of Central PA.