By Dick Thackston
By now if you’re in the housing market, have been in the housing market or are thinking about being in the housing market, you’ve heard about buyer brokerage. Most folks, consumers & REALTORS, have an idea about buyer brokerage but very few actually understand it or have the training and background to engage in it effectively. Most real estate consumers tend to only see the short term, regardless of the market situation rising or falling; consumers tend to not see the long term. One of the most important services a Buyer Broker can provide is a long term perspective – knowing why a property is worthy of buying selling or holding. If that sounds about right to you then read on.
Most of the information about buyer agency in particular and real estate in general is written by, well, writers – people who write blogs, newspaper & magazine articles, TV scripts etc. Unfortunately, these folks are not the best judges of what is actually happening in the real estate world; their analysis, while genuine, is not usually based in any actual experience. Higher an experienced buyer broker, like myself or the Accredited Buyer’s Agents that work with me, whose only goal is to help you make the best buying decisions, and can freely share our experience and knowledge with you, is one of the most critical services you can obtain in making your real estate profitable.
A good relationship with a buyer broker means that number one you speak the same language: you can readily and honestly communicate back and forth about the pros and cons of each possibility. Keeping thirty to forty properties under review and analysis is not unusual in this market; many times your buyer broker is studying the market changes to let you know of interest in properties, price changes, zoning changes, vacancy rates, employment and any number of other factors that are specific to your plans. Often a good buyer broker will look for the best property of the day that targets your situation; by this I don’t mean just putting you on an auto delivery from the MLS but they will actually review properties daily and let you know the best buy of the day. Conversely they should be watching the properties in your portfolio of prospective purchases that would take them off your list as well.
Most importantly of all you need to have clear commitment between each of you as to how fees will be handled between you and the extent to which you want to work with each other.
