An agent will also have better access to the housing market, because that’s the field in which he/she works and because he/she works as a full-time liaison between buyers and sellers. Buyer’s and seller’s agents know how to put good deals together for the benefit of their clients. An agent will also have readily available access to other properties listed by other agents, and can track down homes that meet your criteria, contact the listing agents, and secure appointments for viewing the homes. Navigating all this on your own is much more complicated and difficult, and will also take a lot longer without an experienced agent on your side. Even if you’re well known by family, friends, and colleagues as an expert negotiator, when it comes to negotiating for home prices it’s a whole different ball game. This is where the negotiation skills of a real estate agent come in handy. Sometimes, the home search and home-buying process can become emotional and even heated, but a real estate agent knows how to keep the transaction dispassionate and “at arm’s length,” so to speak, in order to keep clashing personalities, emotions, frustrations, and arguments at bay. Negotiating the price of a home takes a certain specialized skill set as well as the understanding of the psychology of negotiation and bargaining, of offers and counteroffers. NEGOTIATION EXPERTISE
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