This blog is largely excerpted from this article written by Albert Fox Cahn, with some modifications.
Lawyers will save you tens of thousands of dollars in agent commissions alone, and you’ll get an attorney to answer your most pressing questions. The National Association of Realtors' own 2015 report says, "The real estate industry is saddled with a large number of part-time, untrained, unethical, and/or incompetent agents." And as one lawyer said after going through a personal experience of home-buying: “Do you have an internet connection? Do you have at least a seventh-grade reading level? Do you like saving money? If you answer yes to all three, you're in fantastic shape to be your own agent.”
A buyer wants to know: “Any pending or anticipated building repairs, assessments, or compliance measures?” For example, in Florida, a building with 3 floors and above must have a structural inspection performed by a licensed engineer in order to provide for sufficient reserves to address the recommended, future repairs of the buildings. As a Buyer, you’d want to know if that's around the corner. But to almost every due-diligence question or legal question, your agent is likely to say, "That's something for the lawyers in due diligence."
The class-action settlement with the NAR is going to make it a lot harder for sellers to be forced to pay for buyers' agents. Going forward, for people without an agent, a savvy seller may pay just 3% of the sales price to their own agent instead of 6% to be split with a buyer's agent. This will give an edge to the Buyers to negotiate a lower price. Buyers will be faced with the prospect of paying directly for agents who offer less and less of an edge in today’s online market, I expect many more people will go their own way, and save tens of thousands of dollars in the process.
Choosing a lawyer over an agent is a smart financial decision—it’s a way to secure expert legal guidance for a fraction of the cost of agent commissions. Unlike agents, who lack the legal training to navigate real estate contract issues and cannot give legal advice, a lawyer provides you with invaluable knowledge and tailored advice to protect your interests.
