The integration of real estate into the internet has revolutionized the way in which home buyers think. It has become easier for buyers to find a home on the internet in the past few years. Today, buyers often ask the question, “Why do I need an agent?”

Home buying is not something someone typically does often. It’s not an every day event or even a yearly event. It can be emotional and stressful, especially when you don’t know real estate and understand the laws, rules and regulations involved in transactions. You’ll need someone with knowledge to spell out the details of the transaction. Remember, this is one of the biggest purchasing decisions you will likely make. It is not something to take lightly.

California REALTORS® Know Real Estate

REALTORS® deal with real estate issues and concerns on a daily basis. They have been educated extensively on the laws and regulations that influence the market. By law agents are required to get continued education to renew their license ensuring they are always up-to-date on the latest real estate news and laws. Further, as Professionals, they have access to tools and an endless array of contacts in the industry to help YOU find the perfect home.

The good news for buyers’ is that lenders will never lend more money than a home is worth. So, you can rest easy knowing that you will never overpay. But there are other problems that can haunt you if you’re not careful. For example, REALTORS® are trained to ensure all necessary disclosures are given completely and in a timely manner. There are many disclosures differing within each state. Some disclosures may include: natural hazards, mello-roos and bonds, smoke detector, lead-based paint, mold, wildfire zones, inundation zones, and Megan’s Law. Do you know all the required disclosures for the state of California?  It can be difficult to keep up with the ever growing list of disclosures! Laws change regularly and if you’re not involved in the real estate market on a regular basis you may fall short of providing yourself ideal representation.

Other potential problems that buyers’ may encounter in the buying process involve homeowner association rules and regulations. For example, you’re a dog lover and have three but you just purchased a condo that doesn’t allow pets. What can you do? Nothing! You can sell the condo but that’s about it. You’re legally bound by your agreement with the association and you’re unlikely to change their rules as a new member.

Further, real estate professionals are trained and experienced in helping people find homes to suit their needs and their budget. While you may want to move to a certain area, you may not have the budget to do so. Or it could be the other way around.  Perhaps you don’t realize you can afford to buy in a particular area. Hiring a California REALTOR® to help you determine your ability to buy in certain areas will save you valuable time. Once you’ve been pre-approved for a loan your agent can begin the task of finding the perfect home for you. They will tailor your search criteria based upon different factors including, but not limited to:

1. Price range you’ve been pre-approved for based on your financing…so get pre-approved for a loan in the beginning of your search
2. Number of bedrooms desired
3. Number of bathrooms desired
4. Areas and communities of interest to you
5. Special features such as pool, yard, garage, main floor bedroom, etc.
6. If you are relocating to Southern California, you may need specific information.  Consider our free relocation guide
   

Your California REALTOR® will then sift through all the results of homes matching your criteria to find the best homes to show. If there are many homes matching your criteria and in your price range, it can be grueling to look through them all yourself.   Once you’ve decided to hire a buyer’s agent to works exclusively for you to assist you in the buying process, you’ll need to find an agent that will be able to understand YOUR needs.

Not every agent will be the right agent for you.  The seller has an agent to represent them, the listing agent.  You need an agent to represent you, your own buyer’s agent.  The members of The Red Wagon Team can represent you as your buyer’s agent for any of the homes listed here on our Southern California real estate blog site or our main website for Southern California real estate.

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After carefully searching for a great Long Beach real estate company, The Red Wagon Team, co-founded by Jay Valento and Stella Frize, have chosen to be associated with Main Street Realtors. Main Street Realtors has been in business since 1992 in Long Beach, California.

They are a dominate independent real estate company covering beach cities in Southern California, with over 200 real estate professionals. They are a leader in the Long Beach real estate community. Being an independent brokerage company (not affiliated with a national franchise) their agents are able to target their advertising and marketing funds to best serve their clients instead of supporting national advertising campaigns.

Additionally as independent contractors, Main Street Realtors agents are free to utilize more creative concepts in marketing than just the cookie-cutter, template driven options offered by our competitors.

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