How Can A Realtor Help A Buyer?

Real estate agents role when helping a buyer is to always put their best interests first. They should focus on gathering information on specific areas, neighborhoods and homes, help to navigate around pitfalls, write and negotiate the best terms and conditions on an offer for you as well as guide you through the entire buying process from start to finish. 

Different real estate brokerages and Realtors use different systems in their business but you should expect the following from any realtor you work with.

Understanding financing and closing costs

One of the first and most important steps you make when you purchase a home is to get a pre-approval from a lender so you know exactly how much money  you have in your pocket and whether you will be comfortable with the monthly mortgage payments. 

Going through the pre-approval process means a lender will verify and confirm your employment, credit and income. There are many tools online you can use to determine what you might be approved for but they're not necessarily accurate. You have to take into consideration many different factors that a lender will examine to determine what you can afford. These will include your salary, are you self employed, your credit as well as how long you been employed by your current employer.

A Selling agent will ask a buying agent whether or not their buyer has been pre-approved before they will consider an offer from them. They want to know the buyer is qualified financially. An experienced real estate agent should provide their clients with a few mortgage broker options to choose from in their pre-approval process so they can shop for the best quote possible.

 Also, when you get a pre-approval this will take into consideration if you have funds above and beyond your down payment to cover closing costs. Your realtor should be able to help you determine what your closing costs will be so that you can plan to have enough funds to cover them.

Closing Costs include things like property transfer tax, lawyer fees, appraisal cost, inspection costs and property tax adjustments.

Help you understand any exemptions you qualify for

Depending on your unique circumstances you might qualify for certain exemptions that the government offers you.

If you are a first-time home buyer for example, and you are purchasing a property under $500,000 there is a transfer tax exemption that you will be eligible for. if the property is $500,000 this would equal a savings of $8,000.

They are also exemptions and government programs including the first time home buyer incentive, the home buyers plan as well as others that a real estate agents can help show you.

Neighbourhood Expert

Understanding the neighborhoods you are interested in is very important. A good real estate agent can help you with this. They have in-depth knowledge of different neighborhoods all throughout the city.

Your agent can ensure that the neighbourhood you are interested in is the right one for you and your family and they will be there to help you fully understand what that neighbourhood has to offer and if it lines up with what's important to you.

Online Property Search & Showings

A quality realtor will set up a comprehensive search for you on the realtor MLS system with the exact criteria you are looking for. Unlike some public sites this will allow you to filter out things like age restrictions, pet restrictions and other variables.

They will send you Auto notifications with matching listings so you see them the second they come on the market. This way you will not miss out on any listings that you might be interested in viewing.

When you narrow down the properties in your search to ones you would like to see, your real estate agent will help coordinate and book showings on your behalf. He will connect with the listing agent and arrange a time that works for everyone.

Negotiating the best price and terms
An Experienced quality real estate agent will negotiate the best terms and conditions for their buyer.  When they prepare the offer they will first of all provide you with up-to-date market research for the property that you're interested in so you can better understand a possible offer price. This way you do not over pay or under pay and have your offer rejected. Your buying agent will look at things like recent sales in the area and the building as well as active comparable properties and also general market trends in the local area and City.

Once this information is understood, the buyer can then make an educated decision on how they want to move forward with their offer price, terms and conditions. The buying agent will then negotiate with the selling agent back and forth until both parties come to an agreed price and conditions.

Help You Navigate All The Legal Documents Involved

Every real estate transaction involves a number of legal documents. An experienced realtor will help you fully understand and navigate these documents and minimize any negative legal implications. Their job is to keep you safe and make sure all the terms and conditions in the contract are in line with your goals and needs.

Fiduciary Duties

When you enter into an agency relationship with a realtor and you are purchasing a property it is their responsibility to do their due diligence. They will fully investigate any property that you are interested in see if they can find anything that they would consider unusual. They will also help facilitate a home inspection by an inspector of your choice.

They will also help you understand the property disclosure statement and if there are any implications that can affect the home or your purchase.

They will also help you determine any ongoing costs related to the property.  They will connect with the selling agent to find out what the monthly costs are for things like water, Hydro heat and if it's a strata property what's the ongoing maintenance fee is.

If it is a strata property they will also review the strata documents to help look for red flags and point out any issues they can see. The Selling agent will usually provide the last 2 years minutes that include Annual General meetings, Special General meetings, engineering reports, depreciation reports, bylaws, strata plans, form b and more.