How do you know that a Real Estate agent is working for the buyer?

If you don?t have a WRITTEN buyer representaion agreement with a real estate agent, then that agent will be working for the home seller BY DEFAULT and will get the best deal for them (maybe at your expense.) The typical scenario works like this: The Realtor says that the owner doesn't want to negotiate on terms. Why? Because he is trying to get THEM the best deal, not YOU! Is he showing you listings that aren?t what you want? That?s because he is trying to sell the houses that are listed with his company ONLY! (Can?t blame him, that?s what he is contracted to do.) Did the sellers find out that you were willing to pay full price? That?s because THEIR agent told THEM what you said! (He HAS to do this. He is THEIR agent, not YOUR agent.) You wouldn?t think of going into a courtroom and expecting the other guy?s lawyer to be looking out for you, would you? The same idea applies to real estate agents.

What are common reservations to hiring a Buyer Agent?

1. You want to do it all yourself

2. You don't want to pay for an agent

3. You don't want the hassle of dealing with an agent

Consider:

1. Are you sure you know everything you need to know to get the home you want, get a good price on it, and write the papers so things work your way? Are you "in the know" when it comes to current real estate information? Do you have the pulse of the market? Do you know about real estate procedures and which forms to use? Do you have the desire to be a martyr, or the desire to buy a home? The Realtor has already learned all this, both out of the book and through experience.

2. There is usually no additional charge for a Buyer Agent to work for you - the listing agent will split his fee with the Buyer agent. As a side note, if an agent works for the seller, they get paid EXACTLY the same thing, and he didn't even negotiate a better deal for you!

3. A buyer agent reduces your hassle: without one, you will spend long hours looking through ads or online listings, making calls for showings, not getting callbacks, driving out to see houses that turn out to be not what you want, feeling awkward in other people's houses, spending time on papers, making multiple calls every day to keep things on track, dealing with lenders who need a daily 'nudge', requests for information (and knowing what information they are talking about), coordinating closing, running across town for documents, and doing everything at odd hours on weekends. (Ahhh, the pleasures of buying a home!) The buyer agent does all this and just reports the highlights to you. The simple reality is that you will be working with an agent no matter which home you buy, whether from a private owner selling his/her house through a real estate agent who represents THEM (not you), or from a builder?s representative (the agent who is in the sales office on the new home lot), who represents the BUILDER (not you). Or, you can work with an agent who looks out for YOU. Which do you prefer?

© 2006, Jon Kresh

Posted by Charles Mote on December 13, 2008 at 12:00 AM

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