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Go House Hunting With A Buyer’s Agent

Posted in Mortgages by CrankySaver
October 31, 2009 09:00 AM - 1 Comments

If you’re purchasing a home, don’t go with just any real estate agent: Get a full-time buyer’s agent.


One of the advantages of working with a buyer’s agent is that you’re less likely to have conflicts of interest.


House hunt with a buyer's agentUnlike agents who represent buyers and sellers, buyer’s agents won’t steer you toward a home that one of their clients has listed or that’s being represented by an agent they’re working with on another deal.


When brokers are trying to buy and sell homes, it’s hard to know what all of the connections might be and feel confident that your best interests are being represented.


You should never have to wonder: “Is my agent pushing me to buy this home because he wants to curry favor with the selling agent? Are they working on another deal together where their roles are reversed?”


Start by looking for what’s called an exclusive buyer’s agent, which means he or she works for a real estate office that only represents buyers.


You’ll never have to wonder if you’re being shown homes that other agents in the office are selling so that the brokerage will earn all of the commission from the deal.


Be sure and ask if they’re a Certified Exclusive Buyer Agent (CEBA) by the National Association of Exclusive Buyer Agents.


Although that doesn’t guarantee you’ve found a great agent, it means they’ve received additional training on buyer-based negotiations and have closed a minimum of 12 transactions as an exclusive buyer’s agent.


If you can’t find an exclusive buyer’s agent in your area, go for a buyer’s agent at a traditional real estate office.


In this instance, ask if they’ve been certified as an Accredited Buyer Representative (ABR) by the National Association of Realtors.


An ABR also has special training on how to negotiate on a buyer’s behalf and must have completed at least five transactions as a buyer’s agent.


You should wonder about any agent who claims extensive experience as a buyer’s agent but hasn’t become an ABR or CEBA.

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  1. Wes said:
    on October 31st at 10:02 am

    Be careful to know the rates that typical (seller’s) agents will charge before you sign on with a buyer’s agent. When I was looking for a home a couple of years ago I could only find one reputable buyer’s agency for the area I wanted. The agency wanted a 2.5% fee. In my area the typical seller’s fee was a 2%/2% split – 2% for the buyer’s agent and 2% for the seller’s. This would have meant that I was on the hook to the buyer’s agency for an extra .5% of the home price for most of the houses I would have been looking at. Also, had I signed with them and bought a house in the area without involving one of their agents (basically, a for sale by owner) even if they hadn’t helped at all I would have been on the hook for their fee for something like 3 months after signing.

    They guaranteed 3% off the home price, meaning that if I bought a house at the seller’s asking price (and a 2.5% margin below that, assuming 2% was paid by the seller) I would not have owed the buyer’s agent a fee. Anything beyond that would have theoretically justified their fee.

    I decided not to sign with them. This decision was based solely on the fact that I believed they had lied to me about seller’s fees in the area. They told me that the split was typically 2.5%/2.5% and that their fee was generally covered in the seller’s agreement. I suspected this not to be true because I had been asking seller’s agents at open houses I had been checking out (mostly out of curiosity) to find out before I walked into the buyer’s agency. I ended up with a house I liked in my price range in a neighborhood the buyer’s agency said I wouldn’t be able to afford for 3% less than asking. Maybe they could have done better – who knows. I do know that the real estate agent/agency that helped me find and buy the house I bought got 2%.

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