It's not uncommon for many first time home buyers or even move up buyers to think they don't need representation when they go to buy new construction. Chances are really good that their agent never stayed in touch (over 80%) and afterall they have google so why would they need anyone to help them through the process. However, what most home buyer's fail to realize is that buying a home from a builder without an agent is actually WORSE than trying to buy it alone without an agent. Let's break this down.
Buying Directly With Listing Agent Vs Builder
When you go directly to the listing agent, you have to understand they have 1 job... to get the absolute most money for the home seller. The catch is that they have a oversight on their license from the state to look out for the public's best interest. So while they can still take you to the cleaners (meaning you still need representation) financially, they can't mislead you or miswarrant the home or make failures to disclose. Any mistake like that will cost them their license!
However, a builder has no such ramifications. A builder's biggest fear might be a lawsuit but it'll never get that far because it's likely you will waive your right to sue when you buy. Assuming you did that (most do, believe it or not) the builder only has to worry about you leaving a bad review. Why do you think some builders change their name so often? When you build low quality homes and take advantage of people, your bad name gets out locally. However, because so many people trust new home builders, there are always a fresh batch of buyers from outside the area willing to buy a new home.
Google Isn't Ready For Contract Reviews
You can read this post and thousands of others about the dangers of buying a new home on your own but you will never be able to cover the bases. The reason is that real estate is local. This is particularly true of builders. Builders have state specific contracts because states have their own laws as it relates to real estate. An easy example is the foreclosure laws. In Georgia, foreclosure can take 30 days, in California it could take 30 months. In Georgia, you close with a closing attorney and the buyer, seller and real estate agents are present. In New York, the attorney does everything and everyone at the closing has an attorney even the insurance agent. With that level of complexity from region to region there is no 1 authority to research. Legalzoom fails miserably here.
I get it. Most real estate agents are bums. They close a few deals a year and really are poor examples of professionals. However, there are agents that pride themselves in being professional and protecting their clients. The good ones will already be familiar with the builder, their contracts, their strengths and weaknesses.
It doesn't Cost A Thing
This is the typical argument by most real estate agents. Why buy without representation when the seller is paying for already? It's true. Nearly, 95% of the inventory you will ever see will have some sort of buyer's agent fee included in it. That's why some buyer's figure they will negotiate with the buyer's agent for thier fee, especially since most agents are bums (see above). The problem with that is that any agent that will negotiate upfront with their money will likely not want to deliver full service to you. This works great for the builder, he's already agreed to pay an agent so if you show up with one that doesn't want to work, he's estatic.
How do you avoid all this? Hire an agent. Interview an agent that is worthy of it and get the value of it.
