How Your Realtor and Financial Advisor Work Together

Buying a home is one of the largest purchases you’ll ever make, so it’s important to have the right professionals offering you guidance. To ensure that you’re on the right track, you’ll want a realtor and a financial advisor on your team. Their roles are distinct but complementary, with each one playing a crucial part in advising you to make smart, confident decisions. Understanding the difference between these two professionals—and how they can work together — can help you maximize your investment and minimize your stress.

The Role of a Realtor When You Buy a Home

A great real estate agent offers far more than just access to listings or help drafting offers. They provide critical expertise and advocacy that protects buyers’ interests in a dynamic and challenging market. Here are four qualities to look for in a realtor:

1. Market knowledge

Real estate agents know the ins and outs of the local housing market, understanding current trends, neighborhood dynamics, school systems, upcoming developments, and more — all factors that influence both quality of life and long-term home value. A 2023 survey by the National Association of Realtors (NAR) revealed that 89 percent of home buyers purchased their home through a real estate agent, mostly because they valued their market expertise.

2. Networks and resources

Strong realtors have a team of professionals who support their buyers and sellers, including lenders, inspectors, attorneys, contractors, and more. For instance, at the Urban Dog Group, we work exclusively with Michael Dean of CrossCountry Mortgage, who ensures that our buyers receive the loan that best fits their needs.

3. Professional skills

Negotiation skills are, of course, a must. It’s crucial that your real estate agent knows how to advocate for your best interests when it comes to price, inspections, repairs, and final terms. They need to be organized, as they are responsible for coordinating appraisals, inspections, financing timelines, and closing documents. Your agent should also be adept at reading situations, crafting persuasive offers, and knowing when to push or pull back.

4. Emotional support

Buying a home is more than just a financial decision; it’s also an emotional journey. An experience realtor helps you manage your stress, offering much-needed solutions when challenges arise (and they will arise!). 

Why a Financial Advisor is Critical to the Home Buying Process

A financial advisor’s main role is to provide you with holistic, long-term financial guidance. They help you purchase a home that fits in your budget but also a broader, sustainable financial plan. Financial advisors typically look at the following when working with clients considering a home purchase:

1. Affordability

Your financial advisor ensures you ultimately buy a house that you can afford. While they factor in your pre-approval numbers, they also look at long-term goals like retirement savings, college funds, emergency reserves, and lifestyle preferences. Advisors often help clients avoid the common trap of becoming “house poor” by keeping overall financial health in focus.

2. Optimizing financial strategies

While a mortgage lender secures financing, a financial advisor helps the client understand how the mortgage fits into their overall financial goals. They may also advise on the benefits of different down payment levels, how mortgage interest rates align with other investments, and whether it makes sense to pay points or refinance later.

3. Offering unbiased guidance

Your financial advisor doesn’t earn a commission on your home purchase, which helps them offer objective advice. Their loyalty is to your financial success, not closing a specific deal. 

Why Both Professionals Matter—And Why Realtors Remain Invaluable Today

In an era of online listings and seemingly endless advice on social media, you may wonder if you really need a real estate agent to guide you through the home buying process. The answer is a resounding yes.

Realtors and financial advisors serve fundamentally different purposes: A real estate agent executes on-the-ground guidance with much-valued market expertise, while a financial advisor provides the bigger picture strategy. Working together, they ensure the buyer secures the right property under the best possible terms and makes a financially sound decision.

To close, let’s consider this real-world example of how these two professionals work together. If you want to renovate your home, you should talk to your real estate agent about the best improvements to make to increase your home’s value. Your realtor can also help you determine if your property has equity, which you can leverage to pay for the renovations. Your financial advisor, then, can you tell how much money you can afford to spend on the desired upgrades.

Let The Urban Dog Group help you with your real estate needs. Contact Christine Elias at caerealestate@gmail.com.