what is a realtor’s job when it comes to buying a home?

Question

basically: why would someone need a realtor to BUY a house?

i understand that to buy a house, you (buyer) give some money to the owner (seller) in the form of a down payment and essentially get a loan from the bank (mortgage), and then pay that loan back to the bank over the course of years (decades).

for selling a house, i get that you’d want someone to put up the listing and pull connections to get the word out to buyers.

but for buying a home, where do the realtors come in and why does everyone say you need to get one to be a serious buyer?

In: Other

Answer 1

I moved to the US from UK where realtor fees are 1-2%. Can anyone justify the 6% in the US? $60k seems like A LOT of money for a few dozen (?) hours selling a $1m home.