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Choosing the Buyer's Agent by: Sharon DeGrella |
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A change
that has swept the real estate industry in the past several years has
been the growth of the buyer's agent. Before the advent of the buyer's
agent,the agent was responsible primarily to the seller. The seller paid
the final commission and signed a listing contract designating the agent
to represent them in exchange for the commission. All agents involved
in a transaction could only be devoted to the one side of the transaction
- the seller's side! This was true even when an agent had only been working
with the buyer, and was responsible for writing and presenting the offer
to purchase! What did that mean to the buyer? It meant that if their agent knew proprietary information about the seller that could help the buyer in formulating their offer, the agent was not allowed to share it with the buyer. It wasn't until real estate buyers began to demand fair and equal representation of their interests that the concept of buyer's agency took hold. Today you will find many real estate agents that specialize in representing buyers. In most cases, the commission is still paid to the buyer's agent by the seller, even though your are benefiting from the knowledge and experience of the buyer's agent representing you.The Buyer's agent's commission usually amounts to half of the total fee that the seller has agreed to pay their listing agent upon the close of the transaction. How can you locate an established buyer's agent? You can start by looking for agents that advertise their specialty as part of their promotional advertising. The most common designation for buyer's agents is the ABR, or Accredited Buyer Representative designation, which indicates that the agent has undergone extensive training and has experience in representing buyers. |
Services
a buyer's agent should provide:
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