Home Requirements
  Getting Pre-Approved
  Making the Offer
  Home Warranty
  Value of Using a Realtor
  Title Insurance
  Terms You Should Know

Regardless of economic conditions or level of consumer confidence, buying a home can be a daunting task. How does one find a home? How much home can a household afford? Is a homebuyer likely to be better off purchasing a home in a metropolitan/urban area or in the suburbs?

Real estate professionals assist housing consumers in facing those challenges and addressing those concerns. REALTORS and other real estate professionals provide a wealth of experience and knowledge about all aspects of the housing market, including a firm understanding of the legalities involved in purchasing a home. They also have specialized knowledge about the markets that they serve; this benefits home sellers and enables their properties to sell quickly and at competitive prices.

• Nearly four out of five homebuyers used a real estate agent as an important information source and to insist in the transaction.
• Buyers were most likely to learn about the home that they ultimately purchased through a real estate agent.
• More than half of homebuyers first learned about their real estate agent from either prior experience or referrals.
• More than eight out of ten homebuyers received recommendations from their real estate agent about sources for other real estate related services and/or products.
• Nearly 90 percent of homebuyers who received at least one such recommendation purchased at least one product and/or service based on the real estate agent's advice.
• Forty-one percent of homebuyers used the Internet as an information source.
• Homebuyers who searched the Internet were actually more likely to use a real estate agent to complete the home search and close the transaction.