What Does a Real Estate Agent Do For Buyers and Sellers?

In the digital age where everything can be done online, is hiring a real estate agent worth it?

After all, what does a real estate agent do other than provide property options, which I can easily find with the help of platforms like Trulia or Zillow?

If you belong to this school of thought, then this post may be enlightening for you. Many people believe the bulk of the responsibilities real estate agents have is finding houses for home buyers and managing tour guides for home sellers, but real estate agents do a lot more than people think.

So, what do real estate agents do? What are their responsibilities? First off,  let’s begin by defining what a real estate agent is.

What Is A Real Estate Agent?

A real estate agent is a licensed professional representing the buyer or the seller in a real estate transaction.

Agents who are working with potential home buyers to help them find a home are called Buyer Agents. Agents working with sellers to list their home and find the right buyer are called Listing Agents. Lastly, agents who work with people looking to rent a home are called Rental Agents. 

The key word to remember is ‘Licensed’. A real estate agent must have passed the state examination and must hold a license to practice. 

What Does A Real Estate Agent Do For Buyers?

Besides working for the best interests of their clients, here’s a look at everything that a real estate agent does for a buyer:

1. Helps You Get Pre-Approval

You might be pre-qualified for a loan, but the listing agent is going to ask for a pre-approval to consider your home buying request. 

To pre-qualify means that you’re likely to qualify for a loan based on your basic credit. Whereas, pre-approval is a more rigorous process that leads to an indication that you will get a loan. 

A good real estate agent will know that it’s incredibly difficult to buy a house without a mortgage pre-approval and will use their network in the real estate industry to help you get pre-approved through the right lender.

2. Find Your Dream Home 

Finding the right home can be a long process that takes a lot of time and energy. However, you can conserve your energy by allowing a real estate agent to search for homes for you. 

By asking targeted questions, a good real estate agent will be able to understand precisely what you are looking for and then can take the search in the right direction. 

For instance, a real estate agent can suggest the right neighborhood based on your requirements like property type, budget, school district, and more. 

3. Negotiate and Make An Offer

A good real estate agent will negotiate on your behalf with the seller and make the offer that’s right for you. 

They know that the ideal offer price should hit your sweet spot; it shouldn’t be too low and it shouldn’t exceed your budget. 

With their experience and industry knowledge, the real estate agent will help you find the ideal price and can also negotiate on your behalf to get a better offer.

4. Helps You Select a Home Inspector 

Inspection is one of the most important steps in the home buying process. A seasoned real estate agent can help you select a reputable home inspector who can spot any and all costly issues with the house. 

Real estate agents who are truly devoted to their clients will make sure to be present during home inspections to help you understand what’s worth stressing over and what isn’t.  

5. Seeing the Deal Through To Closing 

There can be many reasons for deals to fall through before the closing. Some of the most common reasons include:

• Financing rejections
• Inspection failure
• Low appraisals

However, an integral part of a real estate agent’s job is to ensure that such reasons don’t come up. 

Real estate agents look over all of the documentation meticulously to ensure its accuracy. It’s their job to find mistakes in the paperwork and everything else before closing day so that the deal doesn’t fall through. 

From communicating with the seller’s agent to finalizing the closing paperwork, having a real estate agent will make the closing process that much easier to get through.

Closing is an important part of the home buying and selling process that many people overlook. Check out our blog post that defines what the closing process is and the 4 common mistakes you should avoid making when closing on a home.

What Does A Real Estate Agent Do For Sellers?

A real estate agent will always put the needs of their clients first. Here’s what a real estate does for a seller:

1. Correctly Price Your Home 

A big mistake that home sellers make when they aren’t working with real estate agents is that they set the price too high only to reduce the price later when they don’t get an offer.

This changes the perception of your house to the buyers, prompting them to think that there’s something wrong with the property. 

An experienced real estate agent will help you price your home correctly while taking into account factors like average market price, the condition of your home, and more. 

2. Market Your Home Correctly

Marketing is the key to selling your home quickly in the highly competitive real estate market. 

Real estate agents know how and where to market your home to find the right buyer quickly. From writing a compelling listing, taking excellent photographs, and preparing the property, they will take care of it all.

Not only this, they will target the right channels such as MLS or Multiple Listing Service ( a database created by brokers to provide data about the properties for sale), the real estate agent’s website, and social media to make sure that the word about the property rapidly spreads. 

3. Keep You Posted On What’s Going On

A real estate agent knows that you have other obligations like a job and a family to look after, besides worrying about selling your home.

Real estate agents make it a point to keep you updated on everything going on that concerns your property. Keeping you in the loop for all of the important communication, they will ensure that you don’t get overwhelmed at any point during the process.

4. Find an approved buyer 

Anyone can say they want to buy a home, but not everyone is capable of buying a home. 

To make sure that you don’t waste your time talking to people who are not qualified to buy a home, a real estate agent will sift through the list of potential buyers and ensure that only approved ones reach you.

5. Negotiate The Best Terms For You

Home negotiations are critical in determining whether a sale will go through or not. 

Being skilled at the job, real estate agents will negotiate on your behalf to ascertain the best possible terms and conditions for your sale. 

These negotiations are not limited to just price reductions. They can include repair requests and concessions justified due to other problems with the property. 

It is a common that real estate agents will have to mediate issues that arise from home inspections and being the experts, they are skilled at turning any negatives into a positive.

Don’t forget, since they are working closely with you, they will never hesitate to push for your needs when closing the deal.

Final Thoughts

As you can see, real estate agents have a lot of responsibilities on a day to day basis. This blog post doesn’t go through every single thing that real estate agents do for their clients but what makes real estate agents valuable are mainly two things, their expertise and devotion to getting their clients the best results possible.

A real estate agent once said, “What’s most rewarding is seeing buyers in their new home—no question. Also, sellers beaming when they’re handed a check at closing. Making people happy is what drives this business.”

If you are interested in getting an in-depth look into the lives of the best real estate agents, then check out our brand new series titled, The Negotiators. This real estate series reveals how the best agents go above and beyond for their clients. Viewers will see the daily crises that agents have to handle in order to ensure that their clients are satisfied and are getting the best deal possible. The series will be available to watch for free on Reveel this fall! Check out the trailer for the new series here.