A good buyer agent can save their clients both time and money. Usually, lots of both. A good buyer agent can protect their clients from legal and financial disaster. A good buyer agent can even make the home buying experience more fun and lower their client’s stress levels. There are lots of very compelling reasons to use a buyer agent. 87% of all home buyers who used the internet to search for homes also choose to use a buyer agent to assist them.
Just in case you’re one of the 13% who choose to go it alone, I thought you might like to read a little about what a buyer agent does.
Locate homes for you to view
So all homes are listed online, right? Why do you need a buyer agent to help you find what you can find yourself? If you’re local, and have days and days (or maybe weeks) to research and drive by homes, many of which you will not want because of one thing or another, I guess you could do this all by yourself.
Or you could sit down with your buyer agent, discuss in detail what you need in a home, and let the agent do all the grunt work for you. It’s our business to know which neighborhoods appreciate the best, have the best builders, have low crime rates, contain homes with the killer kitchen you have always dreamed of, or have the perfect back yard for your kids or pet. Chances are a good buyer agent has already seen the home you are describing to him or her. At the very least, they know exactly which neighborhoods have what you are looking for.
If you are determined to look at homes, all by yourself, without a buyer agent, what do you do when you find one you want to consider? Hmmm, you could call the number on the sign or the online listing. Did you know that person has a contract with the seller to get them the most money with the least concessions possible? Will they tell you how that home stacks up against the ideal of the dream home you’re searching for? Or will they use their highly polished sales skills to talk you into buying the one home they are paid, and contractually obligated, to SELL to you?
A good buyer agent will always advise you about how close a particular home matches what you are looking for, relative to everything else that is out there. They can do that specifically because they do NOT represent the seller. A buyer agent represents… you.
Make sure you don’t pay too much
A good buyer agent will do hours and hours of behind the scenes research on the market value of homes you are interested in and share the documented results with you. This is huge when it comes to understanding what kind of deal you are getting. How else will you know? If you are looking on your own, who will do this for you? Maybe you could ask each and every listing agent, who represents the seller, if the home that they priced is a good deal. They probably would not be too interested in telling you of a better value in the home down the street.
Your buyer agent wants you to get a good deal. They want you happy. They want you to use them the next time you buy or sell a home. And they want you to refer all your friends and family to them. There is plenty of incentive for your buyer agent to help you get a good deal. There is no incentive for the agent who represents the seller to do this.
Keep you out of legal trouble
Did you know that you could enter into a real estate contract, decide to back out, and be forced to buy the home anyway? Did you know there are circumstances where you could loose your earnest money deposit, even if you do not qualify for a loan after entering into a contract? Did you know that a builder could take your deposit money, promise to deliver your new home in two months, and then take two years?
You guessed it. A good buyer agent will warn you of all these situations and offer you choices on how to avoid them.
Lots of other reasons too…
I could go on about how important it is to choose the right home inspector so that you don’t buy a money trap. How to use pre-approval to actually get you a better price on your home. How to structure your offer so that you can SAFELY walk away for any reason whatsoever. But I have to address what I think is the real reason 13% of home buyers choose to go it alone.
Afraid of an Exclusive Buyer Agency agreement
The few times that I run into someone who doesn’t want to use a buyer agent, the words “I don’t want to sign anything” usually come up somewhere in the conversation. That’s fair, but hey, you’re going to have to sign something to buy a home at some point. And if you are signing a legally binding contract, and giving someone (the seller agent) who does NOT represent you thousands of dollars to hold for you, why not sign an agreement with someone (the buyer agent) who could actually help you and protect you from the endless list of mistakes unrepresented buyers typically make?
The way I do buyer agency agreements is that you can cancel any time you want. For any reason, or for no reason at all. I put that right in the agreement. Hey, life’s too short. I have plenty of clients who appreciate the value in what I do for them.
We meet, we interview each other, and if we decide we are a good fit, we sign a buyer agency agreement. You don’t pay any money. You don’t even pay any money to me at closing. That’s right. It doesn’t cost you anything to have professional representation. The seller of all those home you see online has professional representation. Why wouldn’t you want the same? And at no cost to you.
Would you go into a court of law to defend yourself without representation? Would you show up at the hospital to have surgery with ever having met with your doctor and discussed what was going to happen? Would you show up at church for your wedding without ever having discussed it with the minister or a wedding planner?
There’s no risk with the way I do buyer agency agreements. You get an experienced consultant, on your side, helping you with the tough choices, finding you your dream home. And if it doesn’t go as planned. You can fire your agent at any time.
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