A home purchase involves a surprising number of people, most of whom you will never meet. Knowing who does what — and, importantly, who is working for you rather than for the transaction — makes the process easier to follow and mistakes easier to catch.
The People Involved
- Real estate agent or broker — finds properties or buyers, advises on price, and negotiates. Which side they represent is the key question. See how to choose a real estate agent.
- Mortgage lender — provides the loan. Banks, credit unions and mortgage companies lend directly; mortgage brokers arrange loans with wholesale lenders for a fee or commission.
- Loan officer or mortgage originator — your contact at the lender, who takes the application and guides it through.
- Underwriter — reviews the file and decides whether the loan is approved. You will not meet them; almost every document request comes from them.
- Appraiser — a licensed professional giving an independent opinion of the property’s value for the lender. Deliberately insulated from pressure by either side.
- Home inspector — assesses condition and reports defects. You hire this one, and you should attend.
- Title company or abstractor — searches the public record for liens, easements and ownership defects, and issues title insurance.
- Escrow or closing agent — a neutral party holding funds and documents and coordinating the closing. Depending on the state this may be a title company, an escrow company or an attorney.
- Real estate attorney — required at closing in some states, optional but useful elsewhere, particularly with an unusual property or contract.
- Surveyor — establishes boundaries and shows easements and encroachments.
- Insurance agent — arranges the homeowners policy your lender will require before closing.
Two of these are yours in a way the others are not: the home inspector and, if you have one, your buyer’s agent. The rest serve the lender, the seller or the transaction. That is not a criticism, but it should shape whose reassurance you rely on.
If several of them turn out to be owned by the same parent company, that affiliation must be disclosed. You are generally free to shop separately for services such as title and inspection. See closing on a house.
Decoding the Letters After an Agent’s Name
Agents often list designations after their names. These are voluntary credentials earned through coursework and experience requirements, mostly administered by industry bodies. Keep the distinction clear: the license is the legal requirement to practice, and a designation is additional training on top of it. A designation is evidence of specialization and effort, not a guarantee of competence, and its absence is not a warning sign.
- ABR — Accredited Buyer’s Representative. Focused on representing buyers.
- SRES — Seniors Real Estate Specialist. Training for clients over 50, including downsizing and retirement moves.
- CRS — Certified Residential Specialist. An advanced residential designation with substantial production and education requirements.
- GRI — Graduate, Realtor Institute. A broad course of study across legal, technical and practical subjects.
- SRS — Seller Representative Specialist. The listing-side counterpart to the ABR.
- CCIM — Certified Commercial Investment Member. Commercial and investment property, not ordinary home sales.
- PSA — Pricing Strategy Advisor. Focused on comparative market analysis and pricing.
Treat these as a hint about where an agent has invested their attention. A specialist designation matched to your situation is genuinely useful; a long string of letters on its own tells you less than one straight answer about recent sales in your neighborhood.