syracusa - If you are sure you know exactly what you want and have the time and knowledge to fully evaluate potential homes on your own, that's terrific. Don't use an agent.
Many people, however, myself included, don't fit that description. When we bought our house, we were first-time home buyers. We didn't know the first thing about the process. I seriously doubt that we would have ended up with the home we got without the help of our agent. We both work full time. Neither of us had the time to search listings, make phone calls, schedule appointments, map out routes for viewings, etc. The agent took care of all of that for us. He gave us info about the neighborhoods, traffic patterns, local schools, etc. Lots of stuff that would have been very difficult to learn on our own without a great deal of effort. A good agent knows the area and is prepared to answer any questions you have not just about a particular house but about the area in general that can help a lot in making your purchase decision.
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Steve
* Why should I pay for my daughter's education when she already knows everything?
* There are no shortcuts to anywhere worth going.
* The world is a book and those who don't travel read only one page.
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