{"id":9250,"date":"2009-07-18T18:43:04","date_gmt":"2009-07-19T01:43:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/?p=9250"},"modified":"2009-07-18T18:40:44","modified_gmt":"2009-07-19T01:40:44","slug":"with-mls-listings-available-everywhere-on-the-internet-why-do-you-need-a-buyers-agent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/9250\/with-mls-listings-available-everywhere-on-the-internet-why-do-you-need-a-buyers-agent\/","title":{"rendered":"With MLS listings available everywhere on the internet, why do you need a buyer’s agent?"},"content":{"rendered":"

This from my Arizona Republic<\/i> real estate column (permanent link<\/a>):<\/p>\n

Here’s an intriguing question: Given that it’s so easy to search for homes on the internet, why do you need a buyer’s agent?<\/p>\n

Face it, if you use the MLS search tool on my web site, you’re seeing exactly the same listings I see. And you know better than I ever could what you like and what you don’t like.<\/p>\n

By now, the home search process is at best a partnership between the agent and the buyer. In some cases the buyer and I will work together to perfect our search criteria. But many buyers simply search the available inventory on their own, emailing me the MLS numbers of the homes they want to see.<\/p>\n

So why do those buyers need a buyer’s agent?<\/p>\n

Realtors hoarded the MLS data for so long that even they came to believe it was the source of their value to buyers. But this is very far from the truth.<\/p>\n

You don’t need me to search for listings, although I’m happy to do that. And you don’t need me to open lock-boxes. You need a buyer’s agent to guide you through what is in fact an arcane and perilous process — potentially a financial disaster. You might not need me to find your next home, but you need me to make sure that you get it — or that you pass on it, if that is what is truly in your best interests.<\/p>\n

A skilled buyer’s agent will write the kind of purchase contract that will prove surprising to you at every turn, with every term and condition tailored to achieve your best advantage. Your agent will supervise the inspection process and negotiate the optimal solution to the repair issues. Your agent will be prepared for every pitfall in the escrow process.<\/p>\n

If you bought and sold houses every day, you could do all these things yourself. It’s because you don’t — and because the seller and the listing agent are looking to take advantage of your naivete at every turn — that you need a skilled buyer’s agent as your steadfast champion in Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This from my Arizona Republic real estate column (permanent link): Here’s an intriguing question: Given that it’s so easy to search for homes on the internet, why do you need a buyer’s agent? Face it, if you use the MLS search tool on my web site, you’re seeing exactly the same listings I see. And […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_crdt_document":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6,5,19],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-9250","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"hentry","6":"category-disintermediation","7":"category-marketing","8":"category-real-estate","9":"category-technology","11":"no-featured-image"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1444,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/1444\/by-withholding-the-secrets-of-the-mystical-mls-system-are-we-betraying-the-home-buyers-interests\/","url_meta":{"origin":9250,"position":0},"title":"By withholding the secrets of the mystical MLS system are we betraying the home-buyer’s interests?","author":"Greg Swann","date":"May 18, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"In all my spare time, I've been working over the past few days on a real estate porn movie. The film features pictures from hundreds of homes, with loads of juicy details. We took the photos over the course of years, so it's entirely possible that some of those homes\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Enduring Interest"","block_context":{"text":"Enduring Interest","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/enduring-interest\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":236,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/236\/how-to-exterminate-a-cowbird-a-comedy-in-three-acts\/","url_meta":{"origin":9250,"position":1},"title":"How to exterminate a cowbird — a comedy in three acts . . .","author":"Greg Swann","date":"August 23, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Act I -- Why Realtors hate discount listings... People think ordinary on-the-ground Realtors hate discount listings because of the discount. That's may be true of many real estate brokers, but real-life Realtors have two much better reasons to hate discount listings. First, the Buyer's Agent will have to do all\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Disintermediation"","block_context":{"text":"Disintermediation","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/disintermediation\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2181,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/2181\/a-consumers-guide-to-the-divorced-real-estate-commission-will-the-negotiating-their-buyers-agents-compensation-make-buyers-more-practical\/","url_meta":{"origin":9250,"position":2},"title":"A consumer’s guide to the divorced real estate commission: Will the necessity of negotiating their buyer’s agent’s compensation make buyers more practical?","author":"Greg Swann","date":"November 8, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Part II: How buyers can finally take a seat at the grown-up's table When a potential home-seller calls me to set up a listing appointment, very often the first question I will hear is, \"How much do you charge?\" A motivated seller is done with the house, and now all\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Marketing"","block_context":{"text":"Marketing","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/marketing\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":559,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/559\/the-divorced-commission-and-the-mls-building-a-much-better-home-search-tool\/","url_meta":{"origin":9250,"position":3},"title":"The Divorced Commission and the MLS: Building a much better home search tool . . .","author":"Greg Swann","date":"October 20, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Okay, carrying on from the idea of the Divorced Commission -- a condition whereby, by some means, the buyer's broker's compensation has been divorced from the listing agreement -- what are the implications for the Multiple Listings Service model of propagating real estate listings? As we are seeing, divorcing the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blogging"","block_context":{"text":"Blogging","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/blogging\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":613,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/613\/a-horrifying-thought-experiment-elaborating-on-a-brokerage-business-model-that-could-completely-disintermediate-buyers-agents\/","url_meta":{"origin":9250,"position":4},"title":"A horrifying thought experiment: Elaborating on a brokerage business model that could completely disintermediate buyer’s agents . . .","author":"Greg Swann","date":"November 7, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"I wrote this this morning, and it's been bugging me all day:Here's a thought: The $99 divorce. It only works where the split is unclouded by children or property. But imagine a $999 FSBO package: The usual MLS-only marketing package with a buy-back guarantee for the buyer. Quoting me: \"From\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Disintermediation"","block_context":{"text":"Disintermediation","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/disintermediation\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":530,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/530\/goodbye-mls-hello-craigslistcom\/","url_meta":{"origin":9250,"position":5},"title":"Goodbye, MLS. Hello, CraigsList.com . . .","author":"Greg Swann","date":"October 12, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"We had three listings close this week, a new listing going into the MLS, we're both showing quite a bit, and we had our usual meta-projects -- plus The Carnival of Real Estate. It's been a busy week... On top of all that, we took one of Cathy's listings \"private\".\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Disintermediation"","block_context":{"text":"Disintermediation","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/disintermediation\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9250","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9250"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9250\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9251,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9250\/revisions\/9251"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9250"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9250"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9250"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}