What's the point of using a real estate agent?
What's the point of using a real estate agent?

When looking for a house overseas, the market can be a little confusing. Luckily, there is someone who will do all the hard work for you – a real estate agent.

  • Real estate agents know the local market like the back of their hand – every property for sale, their values and characteristics. You can’t put a price on that kind of expertise.

  • All that fiddly paperwork and daunting foreign bureaucracy? They´ll take care of it for you.

  • They will work for you, trying to get the best deal possible and searching for the perfect property to suit your needs.

  • They can argue your case, iron out the finer points of the deal or even request renovations to the property, to act as an intermediary between you and the property owner with calm and professionalism.

  • Best of all, they speak the local language!

Things to watch out for...

  • Much of the time the extra cost involved in going through a real estate agency will be paid by the seller but there are some agencies which charge both the buyer and the seller for their services.

  • If you sign exclusively to an estate agency, it may limit your options to only those properties that are in the agent’s portfolio, when there are many more out there.

In the end, using an estate agency can be an enormous help when buying a property, but be sure to choose very carefully who you trust with your future purchase.