Sydney Sense: Do you still need a Real Estate Agent?

With the advent of search engines like: StreetEasy, PropertyShark, Trulia, Real Estate has finally been given to the masses.  Buyers and renters can now run searches on individual buildings, check out sales and rental listings and even create a comparables report in only a few minutes on the internet.  The real estate business, which was once seemingly guarded by lock and key (no pun intended), has now been opened and in many ways simplified to an overwhelming and well publicized degree.  As a Real Estate professional who was raised in a broker family, I feel almost threatened by this new transparency of information.  What if these types of sites continue to multiply and grow in popularity?  Will there still be a need for brokers in the future?  And if there isn’t, what jobs will my Mom, Dad, Brother, Aunt, Uncle and I shift to then?   

Despite my fears, I am reminded on a near daily basis of the importance of my (and my entire family’s) role in the greater real estate process.  While there is a great deal of basic information about real estate available on various websites, there are similarly important aspects neglected.  For example, MANY home buyers still do not know that working with a broker is a COMPLETELY FREE service!  All of the work we brokers do searching on a buyer’s behalf, scheduling appointments, negotiating deals is FREE.  What can you get for free in NYC these days?  

In the vein of transparency, it is biased for me to say that using a broker makes sense.  That doesn’t mean I am wrong.  Forbes just published an article, “Five Reasons Why You Still Need A Real Estate Agent”.  It covers some of the basics like Convenience (so you don’t have to leave your job to show all the time), Negotiation (a professional is  good to have on your side when you’re talking hundreds of thousands if not millions of dollars), Contracts (agents do them all the time), Fiduciary Duties (important to have someone legally bound to tell you the truth and watch your back) and the fact that just because YOU don’t have a broker doesn’t mean you’ll actually save any money (who keeps the savings from not using a broker? The buyer or the seller?) . 

Yet the most important reason for using a broker is very basic and all encompassing.  Buying a home is a BIG deal.  It is the LARGEST, MOST EXPENSIVE purchase most people will make in their lifetime.  Many people will only buy a home once or twice in a lifetime, making the decision that much more intricate and difficult.  Despite the financial commitment, a new home is where you will eat, sleep, entertain, party and store all of your family’s treasures.  It is far more than four walls and a neighborhood.  It is a new lifestyle and a MAJOR change.  And for this same reason, sellers enlist brokers to help them part with this huge emotional and financial part of their lives.  A home is where a seller remembers important milestones that occurred, great parties which took place, delicious dinners and great night’s sleep in their beds.  Sellers have a hard time showing their own homes.  Most enlist professionals who are able to show the space without that innate emotional attachment.  Real Estate brokers are able to take something very personal like a home and turn it into a commodity, while still maintaining a very personal level in the experience. This is a rare talent.  Those who do it best are the brokers.  The members of the Blumstein Team pride themselves on this very important skill and built their reputation on it.