Do You Actually Need a Buyer's Agent to Buy a House?

A friend of mine closed on a house last spring. Three-bedroom ranch in a decent school district, listed at $385,000. She made an offer, negotiated a bit, and closed in about five weeks. Pretty standard transaction.

What wasn't standard: she didn't use a buyer's agent.

No one showed her the house except the listing agent (who was happy to let her in). No one wrote her offer except her, using the state-approved purchase agreement form. And no one collected a buyer-side commission at closing. That money—roughly $9,600 at 2.5%—simply didn't change hands.

She told me afterward that the hardest part wasn't the process. It was figuring out whether she was allowed to do it in the first place.

That confusion is more common than you'd think. So let's clear it up.

First, the Basics: What Does a Buyer's Agent Actually Do?

A buyer's agent is a licensed real estate agent who represents the person buying a home. Their job is to help you find properties, arrange showings, write offers, negotiate terms, and guide you through to closing.

In most transactions, the buyer's agent earns a commission—typically between 2% and 3% of the sale price. For decades, that commission was baked into the listing agreement. The seller agreed to pay both their own agent's fee and the buyer's agent's fee, and those costs were built into the sale price.

Here's where things get interesting: buyers were told this service was “free.” And technically, they weren't writing a check for it. But the money came from the sale price they were paying. So in a roundabout way, buyers were funding both sides of the commission all along.

What Changed in 2024 (And Why It Matters Now)

In 2024, the National Association of Realtors settled a major antitrust lawsuit. The details are dense, but the practical effect was simple: buyer-agent commissions can no longer be advertised on the MLS as part of the listing. Sellers are no longer automatically expected to pay the buyer's agent.

This doesn't mean sellers can't still offer compensation to a buyer's agent—they can. But it's now negotiable and separate. And buyers are now required to sign a written agreement with their agent before that agent can show them a home.

What this settlement really did was pull back the curtain. It forced the industry to be more transparent about who's paying whom and for what. And it opened the door for buyers to ask a question that used to feel almost taboo: do I actually need to hire one of these people?

For a deeper dive into the settlement itself, see our guide: NAR Settlement Explained: What It Means for Home Buyers in 2026.

So… Do You?

The honest answer is: it depends on your situation. Let's look at what a buyer's agent provides, and where the gaps are.

What Agents Do Well

A good buyer's agent knows the local market. They can tell you whether a neighborhood is appreciating or flattening. They know which builders have quality issues and which HOAs are a headache. They've seen hundreds of transactions and can spot red flags that a first-time buyer might miss.

They also handle logistics. Setting up showings, coordinating with listing agents, tracking deadlines, making sure your earnest money gets deposited on time. For a busy person, that has real value.

And in a negotiation, a skilled agent knows how to frame an offer, when to push back, and when to let something go. That's worth something.

What Agents Don't Do (That People Think They Do)

This is where the confusion lives.

Buyer's agents are not attorneys. They cannot give you legal advice. In most states, the purchase contract is a fill-in-the-blank form approved by a state real estate commission or a bar association. Your agent fills in the blanks, but they're not interpreting contract law for you. If something goes sideways, you'll need a real estate attorney.

Agents are not home inspectors. They might point out a crack in the foundation during a showing, but they're not qualified to assess the condition of the home. You'll hire an inspector for that regardless.

They're not appraisers. Your lender orders the appraisal, and the appraiser determines the home's market value independently. Your agent has no role in that.

And they're not mortgage brokers. They might recommend a lender, but your financing terms—rate, loan type, down payment—are between you and your lender.

Once you subtract the things agents can't actually do, what's left is primarily coordination, negotiation, and local market knowledge. Those are legitimate services. But they're not irreplaceable.

Common Misconceptions About Going Without an Agent

“You can't buy a house without an agent.”

You absolutely can. There is no state in the U.S. that requires a buyer to have representation. You have the legal right to represent yourself in a real estate transaction, full stop. Listing agents are accustomed to working with unrepresented buyers. It happens more often than people realize.

“Listing agents won't work with you.”

Listing agents have a fiduciary duty to their seller, and that duty includes presenting all offers. If you submit a legitimate offer, they must present it. Refusing to work with an unrepresented buyer would be a violation of their professional obligations. In practice, many listing agents actually prefer working with direct buyers because it simplifies the transaction.

“You'll overpay without someone negotiating for you.”

Negotiation isn't magic. It's math and preparation. If you know the comparable sales in the area, understand the seller's motivation, and know what contingencies to include, you can negotiate effectively. Agents don't have access to secret data. The comps are the comps. What matters is whether you've done your homework.

“The agent's commission is paid by the seller, so it's free.”

This was always a bit misleading, and post-settlement, it's becoming less true by the day. Even when the seller is technically paying the buyer-agent commission, that cost is factored into the listing price. The buyer is funding it through their purchase price and, by extension, their mortgage. You're paying interest on that commission for 30 years.

And now, with commissions decoupled from the listing, a seller who doesn't have to pay a buyer's agent commission has less to pay out at closing. That's real money that can stay on the table—or be redirected into the negotiation.

The Math That Most People Don't Run

Let's make this concrete. Say you're buying a $400,000 home.

A typical buyer-agent commission is 2.5%. That's $10,000.

If the seller was expecting to pay that $10,000 to your agent, and you show up without one, the seller's net cost just dropped by $10,000. That gives you negotiating room. You could ask for a lower price. You could ask the seller to cover more of your closing costs. You could negotiate repairs or credits.

The point isn't that you pocket $10,000 automatically. It's that $10,000 is now available in the transaction that wasn't before. How you use it is up to you.

On a 30-year mortgage at 7%, that $10,000 baked into the price would cost you about $23,900 in total payments. So the real question isn't just “do I need an agent?” It's “is the service I'm getting worth $24,000 over the life of my loan?”

For some buyers, the answer is yes. For others—especially repeat buyers, people with real estate experience, or anyone willing to do some legwork—the answer is clearly no.

Where Buyers Actually Get Confused

The process itself isn't what trips people up. It's the uncertainty.

Most buyers don't know what they don't know. They're not sure which forms to use, what timelines matter, or how to communicate with a listing agent without sounding inexperienced. They worry about making a legal mistake, even though the contracts are standardized. They worry about missing a deadline, even though every deadline is spelled out in the agreement.

That uncertainty is what agents sell. And it's a fair product to sell—for the right buyer, at the right price. But uncertainty is also something you can solve with information and structure. You don't necessarily need a person collecting a five-figure fee to solve it.

Who Should Probably Still Use a Buyer's Agent

To be fair, there are situations where hiring an agent makes good sense.

If you're buying in an unfamiliar market and you don't know the neighborhoods, school zones, or pricing patterns, a local agent can save you real time and potentially real money. If you're in a highly competitive market where multiple-offer situations are common, an agent with strong relationships can help you get your offer seen. And if you genuinely don't want to manage the logistics yourself, the convenience has value.

There's no shame in hiring help when help is needed. The goal isn't to prove you can do it alone. The goal is to make an informed decision about whether you need to.

Who Self-Represented Buying Is Right For

Self-represented home buying tends to work best for people who are comfortable asking questions, willing to do some research, and able to stay organized through a 30-to-60-day process. If you've bought a home before, you already know much of what an agent would tell you. If you're detail-oriented and comfortable reading contracts (they're not that complicated—really), you're better equipped than you think.

It's also increasingly common. The NAR settlement didn't just change how commissions work—it normalized the idea that buyers have choices. And as more buyers explore those choices, the stigma around self-representation is fading fast.

If you're thinking about handling the process yourself, the next step is understanding what that would actually look like—from the first showing to the closing table. That's exactly what we break down in: How to Buy a House Without a Buyer's Agent: A Step-by-Step Walkthrough.

Or, if you want to see the tools and guidance available to self-represented buyers: Try BAIRE free for 7 days →