Listen You shouldn't choose any real estate agent. Find one with experience. It is relatively easy to become a real estate agent, so there are many out there who are using you as practice. Find one with at least several years of experience.
Listen If you have a good real estate agent, then they will be able to tell you everything I mentioned in earlier lessons. However, if you learn it first, then you can save some money.
Listen Because there are so many real estate agents in the market, it is possible to find a real estate agent that will give you a 'kick back'. This is money that will be given to you if you allow them to be your agent. This is how it works. Agents get paid commission for each house that is bought and sold. That means the agent that is selling the house will get a commission and the agent that found the buyer will get a commission. The average commission is 3%. That means on a $300,000 home, each agent will receive $9,000. That's a lot of money.
Listen If you are ready to buy a home, then you are choosing who is going to make $9,000. Because there are so many agents in the market, many of them are willing to give you $3,000 as a kick back. While looking for an agent, find out if they are willing to give you a kick back of 1%. If they make 3% commission, then 1% kick back would equal receiving a third of what they make. This money can be applied towards your closing costs.
Listen The same thing applies when you are looking for an agent to sell your home. Make sure you get 1% back as kick back to save some money.
Listen It is not required to buy a house with an agent. But if you can get 1% back, then why wouldn't you?
