Home Buying Agents: The Benefits

There are many reasons why discerning property purchasers use home buying agents.

Finding the right property

Many buyers looking for a specific property in a prime location are also people who do not have lots of spare time.  Unfortunately, it is a fact of life that a search trying to find that unique property to meet your needs can be not only time-consuming but also stressful and potentially laden with disappointment.

Using home buying agents such as ourselves at Garrington Property Finders should remove almost all of that time investment and stress from a buyer. Essentially, the agents should do it all for you. 

Using their market skills and expertise

Deciding on the potential suitability of a property isn’t just a question of reading the details carefully and then going for a viewing.  There are a multitude of other considerations that apply, including things such as:

• local schooling catchment areas;

• road and rail connections to nearby cities;

• crime statistics;

• property price histories in the area and forecast trends;

• potential environmental issues in the area, such as significant development planning permission studies that might be underway.

For a given area, home buying agents may already have many of those answers.  Even if they don’t, they will undertake the required research necessary to provide you with a balanced view of the proposition on the table.

Property access

Expert home buying agents should have routes into the marketplace, which are typically not available to the general public.  That means they might know of properties that will shortly be coming available, even when those properties are not yet visible in the public domain.

That is a potentially huge advantage in areas where competition for the best properties is high.

Preliminary inspections and viewings

Little can be more dispiriting than going to view a property which, upon arrival, is immediately seen to be fundamentally unsuitable.

Home buying agents can entirely remove that risk from a buyer’s concern list, by performing their own on-site inspections and reviews to ensure that the property is suitable in reality as well as on paper. The end result is you will only see properties that are an extremely good or even perfect match to your specified requirements.

In the case of specialist properties, such as building projects, the agents may also be able to perform high-level feasibility assessments to consider things such as any planning permission issues and the results of structural surveys.

Guaranteed anonymity

There might be many reasons why a potential buyer would wish, at a given time, not to highlight their particular interest in a property.  By acting on your behalf as home buying agents, your intermediary can guarantee that your name will never be disclosed during these earlier stages of property hunting.

A dedication to your exclusive interests

Unlike an estate agent, a property finder is not in business to try and sell you a property.  In fact, there might be occasions when they explicitly recommend you discontinue your interest in a particular potential purchase.

Together with your eventually appointed solicitor, they will always provide information and advice based exclusively upon your best interests rather than those of any other third party.

Handling negotiations

It is a fact that significant numbers of buyers do not enjoy the price negotiations that often surround a property purchase. 

That could be because, in some situations, it might be necessary to explain to the vendors that their asking price is unrealistic. In others, the imperative might be to try to negotiate them down to a price that you feel is more in line with your own requirements.

Your home buying agents can undertake all of that on your behalf, something that would save you both time and also potentially discomfort if negotiation is not your forte.

Vendor intelligence

Some very experienced agents may be able to help you to identify characteristics of the vendor that could constitute either an opportunity or perhaps cause for concern.

For example, they may be able to ascertain very quickly whether or not the vendor is searching for a fast sale and rapid conclusion.  If that is the case and assuming you are able to move quickly, it might provide you with an enhanced negotiating position.

By contrast, it is an unfortunate fact of life that some vendors may commence negotiations in situations where their commitment to the sale is by no means guaranteed. 

In such circumstances, home buying agents may be able to recommend that you avoid investing any more of your time and emotional energy in the property concerned by carrying out due diligence beforehand.

Investment and rental properties

Significant numbers of clients purchase properties primarily for investment purposes. Others may have rental objectives as well.

This often requires a very different way of looking at a property and includes considerations relating to things such as short versus medium to long term yield and risk assessment etc.

This is an area that a home buying agent should have consulted on for many years and one which they will be pleased to progress on your behalf.

Local geographic presence

Nobody can be in several places at the same time.

If you are looking for properties a long way from where you live and work or indeed if you are searching for UK property from overseas, then geography itself can be a major problem.

Home buying agents can simply make that problem go away by drawing upon their local expertise and knowledge.  If necessary, they can take up temporary residence in the area of your search and do the legwork to check out the locations and the properties that they think are suitable.

Total service provision

The role of a house buying agent might encompass all of the above or just individual elements of it.  Their overarching objective is to deliver total customer satisfaction to you when you are searching for a property.

Here at Garrington, we will, therefore, do whatever it takes to ensure that we satisfy your requirements, taking into account the type of property, its location and its condition. Our propositions are individually crafted to each client based upon their own unique needs.

Please contact us at your earliest opportunity to discover more about our services and our client-centric ethos.