Mmmmm.
Plenty of reasons to use a BA. Plenty of reasons not to. Its a free choice - take it or leave it.
Reasons why clients have used our services in the past (when I've asked them why?) - their words, not mine.
1. I'm Asian and I can't get white Anglo male real estate agents to take me seriously. They don't put my offers to vendors, I think I'm missing something.(Unfortunately that's true and its not nice)
2. I'm no good at negotiating.
3. I've purchased property before and when I look at what I've purchased, it has not worked out to be the greatest investment.
4. I get nervous bidding at auction and I need someone unemotional to stop me getting carried away and overpaying.
5. I've tried to buy for 6-12 months but I keep getting pipped at the post - someone else buys before the Open home or I'm the underbidder at auction.
6. I'm unsure of the true value of the property.
7. I'm in some overseas location and I can't afford to keep flying over there just to miss out on property by the time I get there.
8. I'm working 80 hours a week as a highly paid professional, I earn $2K per day, - I want to outsource the home buying thing to someone else who I can just pay to get the job done.
9. I value my family time on week-ends, kids at sport etc. I don't want to spend my Saturdays looking at property, but I know I need to get one.
10. I've been wanting to buy an investment property since I was 25 years old. I'm now 35 years old and I still have not bought anything. I figured if I paid you money, you could make it happen for me. I am clueless when it comes to selecting a good investment property.
11. I'm a newbie. I don't want to make a mistake on my first IP. Can I use the Buyers Agent exercise to buy me a good property plus help me learn so I can do it for myself next time?
.....I could go on.
The fact is that if you have the time, the energy, the inclination & skill, then you don't need a BA. But there are a LOT of people that recognise their lack of some or all of these things and do something about it. (if they didn't, I'd be out of business)