When You Need a Buyer's Agent

Buyer's Agency Representation

A lot of people think when buying a home they should go straight to the listing agent and I’m going to give you an analogy that basically explains why you should not do that.

Let’s imagine you are in a lawsuit and you’re like, you know what …… instead of getting my own lawyer I’m going to go to the other side and see if the other attorney representing the other person would also represent me for a discount. You wouldn’t do that, right? It would be a conflict of interest.  So when it comes to real estate and buying your most valuable asset, I highly recommend that you have your own agent representing you and here’s why.

When it comes to buyer agency, believe it or not, buyer agency wasn’t really a thing until the early 1990’s. Prior to that people would just go to the listing agent, and guess what. There were problems because the agent was representing the seller who had a fiduciary duty to protect the seller, not the buyer. Hence the creation of Buyer’s Agency.

When it comes to getting a Buyer’s Agent, the value of having a buyer’s agent is not just having someone help you negotiate your offer, they’re also looking out for your best interest and help you verify and acquire all known facts about the property and determine how and if you should write your offer.

Let’s just say the house has been on the market for a long time. You shouldn’t just offer them full price if it’s been sitting on the market for 90 days. So what price should you give them? A local real estate agent is going to know exactly what fair market value is and the strategy on what you should offer and write. If you go straight to the listing agent, you know what they’re going to say? Give them full price. That’ll work out just right! It won’t work out great. And P.S. in Michigan it’s legal for a Realtor to represent the seller and bring in the buyer so long as the seller is okay with it and the buyer is ok without representation. However, if the buyer wants representation and the seller says it’s okay with them, then you’ve got what’s called a dual agency, and I’ve got to tell you, even though it is legal, it is very difficult to represent both sides fairly because let’s face it, you have a relationship with the seller first and the only reason you’re going to represent both sides …. and I know there are a lot of realtors that are going to hate me for this …. but double ending deals …. you can do it, but should you? That’s up to you.

I highly recommend as a buyer that you have someone negotiate on your behalf, help you with the value, and make sure that if there is anything wrong with the property that could be a deal breaker, that you know about it. Maybe there is a serious crack in the foundation, maybe there are way too many repairs that you’re not going to be comfortable making.

The thing is, a buyer’s agent will have your back and will say, you know what, maybe you should walk away from this deal and find a better one. That is the value of having a Buyer’s Agent.

If you have any questions or comments, drop it below and as always don’t forget to subscribe. Click the button, ring the bell whatever you need to do to remember to tune into my channel. Thanks for watching.