“We’ll just skip the buyer’s agent for now.”
I hear that more often than you’d think.
And honestly? Sometimes it works out just fine. There are plenty of people who buy a home without a buyer’s agent and never have any problems with it.
But I also see the other side of the coin. In fact, as a buyer’s agent, I see exactly the cases where things go wrong. And what strikes me is that homebuyers often try to save money on exactly the wrong parts of the buying process.
In other words: penny-wise and pound-foolish.
You (hopefully) only buy a home a few times in your life
Most people spend months comparing energy providers to save €15 a month.
They drive one kilometer further to get cheaper gas.
They’re waiting for Black Friday to buy a new TV.
But then they make an offer of €700,000 on a home… without a good team to support them.
That never ceases to amaze me.
Case Study 1: Save €6,000, Lose €50,000
I recently spoke with a couple who had made a serious offer on an apartment.
They had deliberately chosen not to hire a buyer’s agent.
Why?
Because they wanted to save on those costs.
They had based the value of the home entirely on figures from Huispedia.
Result?
They had overbid by about €50,000.
The irony?
They tried to save about €6,000 in purchase costs.
To me, that’s the textbook example of being penny-wise and pound-foolish.
Case Study 2: Save €850… and pay an extra €10,000
Less than a day later, I spoke with another couple.
I jokingly call them “shopping klutzes.” Not to make fun of them, but because they thought they could handle everything on their own.
Not a buyer’s agent.
No in-person mortgage advisor.
The mortgage was arranged online through an internet platform.
That cost her about €850.
Quite inexpensive.
Until the appraisal came in higher than the purchase price.
The platform then requested a statement from the selling real estate agent explaining why the home had been purchased below its appraised value.
A statement that the selling real estate agent—quite rightly—refused to issue.
And then what?
Everything came to a standstill.
Two weeks of sleepless nights.
Stress.
Uncertainty.
And in the end, over €10,000 in transfer tax —which could likely have been avoided if an experienced mortgage advisor had handled the case from day one.
A good power team often pays for itself
I firmly believe in a strong team.
Not because I happen to be a buyer’s agent myself.
But because each department has its own area of expertise.
A good power team consists of:
- an excellent real estate agent;
- an experienced mortgage advisor;
- a professional appraiser;
- a critical building inspector.
Every specialist sees risks that others might overlook.
It is precisely this collaboration that prevents mistakes that could cost tens of thousands of euros.
Cheap can sometimes end up being incredibly expensive
Of course, professional guidance costs money.
But a bad purchase…
A wrong bid…
A financing deal that falls through…
A hidden structural defect…
That often costs many times more.
Unfortunately, I see that happen quite often.
That’s why we launched Aankoopbazen
That’s exactly why we launched Aankoopbazen.
Not because people looking for a home are stupid.
On the contrary.
Because the housing market has become more complicated than ever.
And because you simply don’t know what you don’t know.
What do I secretly find funny about it?
In my opinion, there are actually two types of homebuyers these days.
The Buying Bosses.
And…
The Shopping Bums.
The first one invests in quality guidance.
The second one tries to cut costs wherever possible and hopes everything will work out.
Sometimes it works out.
But when things go wrong, they often go really wrong right away.
The moral of the story
Buying a house is probably the biggest financial decision of your life.
So don’t skimp on the people who help you make that decision wisely.
Because sometimes, cheap can end up being incredibly expensive.
Or, as the English have been saying for centuries:
Penny-wise and pound-foolish.
And believe me…
I see that statement confirmed in practice more often than I’d like.