Littleton Home Buyer's Guide Tip of the Month Colorado

Should You Have a Buyer's Agent?

Traditionally, real estate agents have worked for the seller. Even when they spent days with you showing homes and drawing up your sales contract, they were still legally representing the seller.

Today that has changed and there is such a thing as a Buyer's Agent -- this means an agent who legally represents you. The advantages of using such an arrangement are not hard to see: things you share with the agent are confidential, the agent can help you arrive at a good offering price by sharing comparable sales in the neighborhood, and the agent is free to suggest the best terms for you. A Buyer's Agent is your advocate. And you don't pay extra for your representation. The fee is still built into the sales price, and the Seller still pays the fee.

How do you find a Buyer's Agent? Almost every real estate agent will work as a buyer's agent; you just need to say that's what you want. The only difficulty you may encounter is this: the agent cannot represent you in the sale of any home listed by him or his real estate company. Then, he would probably suggest a disclosed dual agency. By law today, agents must discuss forms of representation with you at the very beginning of the relationship.

When you hire a Buyer's Agent, you will be required to sign an agreement to work exclusively with that person for a given period. That is fine because it only makes good business sense. Just as you don't go to several doctors at the same time for the same ailment, you don't work with several agents simultaneously. However, make sure there is a performance clause allowing cancellation if the agent you choose doesn't work for you the way you agreed upon.

Once you hire an agent always identify your agent when speaking to another agent. If, for example, you are out on a Sunday and impulsively stop into an open house, immediately tell the open house agent you have agent and who it is. Same thing goes when you call on an ad.