Do I Really Need a Real Estate Agent to Buy a House?

No. Mississippi law does not require you to hire anyone to buy a house. You can find a listing, write an offer, arrange financing and close with a title company or attorney entirely on your own. The real question is whether doing it alone is likely to save you money or cost you money, and the data on that is clearer than most people expect.

What most buyers actually do

In the National Association of REALTORS® 2025 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers, 88% of all home buyers used an agent or broker, and the share rose to 92% among buyers of previously owned homes. (NAR) Buyers also ranked agents as the most useful information source, with 85% calling them useful, ahead of online listing sites. (Virginia REALTORS® summary of NAR data)

That is not because buyers are forced to. Since August 17, 2024, the rules have made it easier than ever to go without an agent, and the share using one barely moved.

Source: NAR press release, November 4, 2025

The seller almost certainly has one

Here is the part unrepresented buyers tend to overlook. A record 91% of sellers used an agent in 2025, and only 5% of homes sold For Sale By Owner. (NAR) So in roughly nine out of ten purchases, the person on the other side of the table has a licensed professional whose legal duty runs to the seller, not to you.

Mississippi’s own disclosure form, which every licensee must give you at the first substantive meeting, spells out what that means. If you work with the seller’s agent without your own representation, the form warns: “You should not disclose any information that you do not want the Seller to know (i.e. the price you are willing to pay, other terms you are willing to accept, and your motivation for buying) because the Seller’s Agent would be required to tell all such information to the Seller.” (Mississippi Real Estate Commission, Working With a Real Estate Broker form)

The same form says a seller’s agent “cannot give you legal or financial advice” to an unrepresented buyer. They can hand you a contract; they cannot tell you whether to sign it.

What changed in August 2024

Under the NAR settlement practice changes, an agent working with a buyer must now sign a written agreement with that buyer before touring a home, and that agreement must include “a conspicuous statement that broker fees and commissions are fully negotiable and not set by law.” (NAR) The fee must be stated as an objective number, and the agent “may not receive more compensation than what was originally provided for in the written agreement, even in instances where a seller is willing to offer more.” (Legal 500)

That is good for you. It means the cost of representation is written down before you see a single house, and you can compare it against what you would be giving up.

What you give up without representation

A buyer’s agent in Mississippi owes you, by law, “the fiduciary duties of loyalty, confidentiality, obedience, disclosure, full accounting, and the duty to use skill, care, and diligence.” (MREC Working With a Real Estate Broker form) In practice, in Central Mississippi, that looks like:

• Pulling closed comparable sales from MLS United so your offer is based on what homes actually sold for, not list prices.
• Writing inspection, appraisal and financing contingencies that protect your earnest money.
• Knowing which lenders and down-payment assistance programs work for your situation. First-time buyers are now a record-low 21% of the market with a record-high median age of 40 (NAR), which tells you how hard it has become to get in without help.
• Handling the repair negotiation after inspection, which is where many unrepresented buyers either overpay or walk away from a good house.

When going without an agent can make sense

Honesty requires saying there are cases where it works:

• You are buying from a family member or close friend at an agreed price. NAR found that 60% of FSBO sellers already knew their buyer. (NAR)
• You are an experienced investor who has closed many deals and uses a real estate attorney for contracts.
• You are buying new construction and are comfortable that the builder’s on-site agent represents the builder, not you.

Even then, a flat-fee or limited-service agreement for contract review is often cheaper than one mistake on a $260,000 purchase, which is roughly Mississippi’s median sale price (Zillow).

The bottom line

You do not need an agent to buy a house. You need someone whose legal duty is to you when the seller has someone whose legal duty is to them. For most buyers, that is the same thing.

Frequently asked questions