Will Los Angeles Discounted Agents Save You Money?

Be very careful of the discount Real Estate Agents or services that give you back up to half of the commission. You have to ask yourself why? If its the only way an agent or service agency can stand apart from their competition rather than having superior service, knowledge or negotiation skills, beware. Do you want to work with desperate agents? The best agents have experience, education, honesty, networking skills, negotiation skills, communication skills and dont need to discount their services. Sometimes an outward saving of commission doesnt save on the entire transaction as a whole.

To give you a better explanation of what occurs with real estate agents, a commission is received at the end of escrow. These discount agents are giving you back a portion back of their commission. Due to receiving less commission money, typically their service will not be catered to you as if they were receiving their full commission. With so many clients and so little time to spare with each one, the discount agent may not have the time that they need to spend on your transaction. People in cities such as Beverly Hills and Hollywood Hills most likely will not be using discount agents as they demand the best service possible on their exclusive LA homes. What may appear to be a savings to the buyer, may actually be a great loss to the buyer.

A discount real estate agent will do the basic services that are required like sending you a generated list of properties that you have requested. When it's time to submit the offer, this agent will indeed submit your offer to the seller's agent. A discount agent may NOT spend the time required to give you the proper advise regarding your local real estate market or provide you with a detailed market analysis. The personal advice may not be there with new properties coming on the market and where a hot deal may be found. They also may not be available to show you all the homes you wish to see and guide you through the escrow process. Most importantly though, their negotiation skills may not be there to get a better price with the seller.

From many Los Angeles buyer's experience, it's not worth it save money on a commission but lose on the deal as a whole. The following is recommended:

- Find an agent that is experienced in your market area
- Don't work with agents who are mainly concerned with getting a large number of leads
- Make sure the agent has superior negotiation skills
- Only work with agents that have time to work with you personally in all aspects of deal
- Be more concerned with experience of agent and their service to you rather than the commission involved. Savings will be made in other areas of the deal rather than only in the commission

Many consumers dont realize how important it is to acquire the right Real Estate Agent. If the Real Estate Agent is in-experienced, the escrow can very well not go through or cost a lot more in the entire process. A better way to save money on your Los Angeles real estate deal is to find an experienced agent that has your best interests at heart. If a discount agent only shows you homes that provides a large commission rate, this may forfeit the chance of finding the home that you love. Also, if a discount agent doesn't understand the process fully in regards to follow-through on contract details, you may lose thousands due to that agent not having the knowledge necessary to complete the deal.

If you are looking for the best service possible and hope to get the best deal in purchasing your Los Angeles home , it might be wise to first discuss with a full-service agent first. Is it worth it to save a few thousand dollars on commission, but to miss out on thousands more during the selection and negotiation process on the home that you desire?