Advantages and disadvantages of buying without a real estate agent

What are the pros and cons of buying property without a real estate agent?

Pros:

You may be able to save money by offering lower acceptable prices to sellers.
As you work your way through obtaining information about many different properties, the education will help you be a smarter and more efficient shopper. Often, you will accidentally learn about things that might change your investment strategy. Working with a real estate agent is often like doing a Google or Yahoo search - if you ask a precise question, you will receive a precise answer. Search engines do not volunteer other things you might want to think about.
You will search a wider variety of sources than a real estate agent for a longer period of time. Selling real estate is a business, not a hobby. Agents cannot afford to spend vast amounts of time with you while you find the perfect investment. At some point, they need to cut their losses and move on to other things.You will not get discouraged so easily because it is your own investment.
Many good investments are owned by sellers who have not previously thought about selling. Catch someone on the landlord's equivalent of a bad hair day, and he or she might be willing to sell his or her property to you on the spot, and hold 100% of the financing.

Cons:

The learning curve is enormous. Who is the best property inspector? What local regulations will affect how I can use my property? What are the market rents? What is a fair price?
A very large amount of your time will be spent on unproductive activities, such as looking at info blurbs on three hundred properties that do not meet your investment requirements. You will play phone tag with listing agents and then discover their property is already under contract or out of your price range. Finding the right investment properties is a time-consuming chore.
You will have no forms, no checklists, and no advice unless you find those resources yourself by spending the necessary time.
Many people cannot emotionally distance themselves from negotiations. They feel threatened by even the mildest form of confrontation or rejection. Some buyers do not want to insult sellers by making offers substantially less than the asking price. Others have buyers' remorse - they readily agree to things and then regret the agreements afterward. All of those people need to school themselves to do better, or hire an agent.

Can I find Multiple Listing Service (MLS) properties if I do not have an agent?

Many local real estate agents have links on their websites to area MLS listings for all companies, not just their own. You can browse the listings, or do some limited searches, and then contact the listing agents directly for more information.

What are other ways to find real estate for sale?

Be aware that many commercial properties are not listed on MLS. There are some nationwide listing sites such as LoopNet that offer free search capabilities. CoStar Commercial MLS provides inexpensive monthly packages for access to listings. Any number of other sites have for-sale-by-owner information, local broker listings, and regional information. You will have to search until you find the websites that seem most useful for your purposes. The National Association of REALTORS estimates that 87% of all buyers find their information on the Internet, so you are in good company!

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