- What is the difference between a buyer's agent and a real estate agent?
- What is a dual agent and what is a designated agent?
- What makes Best Buyer's Broker Realty different?
- How do you get paid?
- If you're paid a percentage of the sale price, isn't it in your best
interest to try to keep the price high?
- Will I have to pay the seller's commission as well as yours?
- If I buy a house For Sale By Owner (FSBO), doesn't it cost me more if I buy use a buyer's agent?
- What happens if I find a home on my own?
- What does it mean when the sign on the front lawn says Ours Exclusively
or Exclusive?
- Other agents tell me that they are the only ones who can show the homes listed with their agency.
- Why do I have to sign a contract with you when I don't with a traditional agency?
- Why do you charge a retainer?
- You say you protect me. What does that mean?
- Just exactly how do commissions work?
1. What is the difference between a buyer's agent and a real estate agent?
A buyer's agent is a real estate agent. Traditionally, real estate agents are seller's agents. Best Buyer's Broker Realty has chosen to represent buyers only. We are both licensed and regulated by the State of New York Department of State (NYSDOS).
We both have an obligation to put the goals of our clients above our own and
always work in their best interest. Just as an attorney represents a client and
is protecting his client against harm, we do the same.
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2. What is a dual agent and what is a designated agent?
A dual agent is one who claims to represent both buyer and seller in the same transaction. A dual agent must disclose to all parties that they must give up most of their rights of representation. There is an agent called a designated agent now. NYSDOS
has said that any agent can represent a buyer or a seller in a single
transaction, but if the home is listed with the firm that represents the buyer,
the broker is considered a dual agent (working for both the buyer and the
seller). In other words, the broker of a traditional listing firm can designate
an agent to represent the buyer for this specific transaction. We feel that
although it is legal, it is very difficult, if not impossible for one office to
fully represent both buyer and seller.
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3. What makes Best Buyer's Broker Realty different?
Best Buyer's Broker Realty, Inc. is a licensed Real Estate Agency. We are different in that we have made a business decision to work for home buyers only, not home sellers as is done with the traditional real estate firm. We believe that most buyers are not totally familiar with the selling/buying process and sellers or real estate agents representing the seller take advantage of that fact. We are devoted to protecting the buyer, to empowering the buyer, to educating the buyer and to shielding the buyer from the normal practices intended to help the seller sell his home for the most money and with terms most favorable to the seller. We use our experience and expertise to put the buyer on an equal status with the seller. The buyer wants to buy the best home at the lowest cost, with the least amount of stress and with terms most favorable to the buyer. We guide him along the right path to achieve this goal.
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4. How do you get paid?
In a real estate transaction (the purchase or sale of a home), the seller is
either selling the home on his own, or he has listed it with a real estate firm.
Usually when the owner is selling himself, it's because he wants to keep the
commission he would pay an agent. The seller usually asks the same price, or
more, for his home as he would if it were listed with a real estate agent. When
a home is sold through an agent, the purchase price typically includes the
commission. When it is sold by the owner, since the price isn't lower, you still
pay the commission in a sense, but it's pocketed by the owner.
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5. If you're paid a percentage of the sale price, isn't it in your best
interest to try to keep the price high?
We have a contractual obligation to work for the buyer. Our agent always
attempts to negotiate a lower price for you. Our usual commission is 3% of the
purchase price of the home. That fee is shared between the agent and the firm,
each is getting 1.5%. For each $1,000 we are able to save you, the agent's
commission on that savings is reduced by only $15. We believe that by working
hard for you, it will result in you recommending us whenever you hear about
someone wanting to purchase a new home. Our goal is to have happy clients who
know that we always acted in their best interests.
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6. Will I have to pay the seller's commission as well as yours?
No! When we find the right home for you, we research that home and recommend
what we feel would be the fair purchase price. You then tell us what you would
be willing to pay and we are obligated to negotiate with the seller to establish
the proper acceptable price to include our entire commission. In other words,
all fees due to Best Buyer's Broker Realty, Inc. are included in whatever you
decide to pay for that home.
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7. If I buy a house For Sale By Owner (FSBO), doesn't it cost me more if I buy use a buyer's agent?
The main reason a seller is selling his home on his own (FSBO) is to save the commission he normally would pay to have the expert help of a real estate agent. Many sellers are not familiar with the techniques and procedures followed when selling a house. Consequently, most FSBO homes are overpriced. Often sellers learn the offering -- not the actual selling -- price of house similar to theirs in the neighborhood, then, based on "pride of ownership" price their house even higher! There are two problems with this "home-grown" approach: their house may be worth a lot less objectively, and their neighbor's house may have sold at substantially less than the initial offering price.
When we inspect and evaluate a home, we will tell you what we think the home
is really worth in today's market. You then let us know what you are willing to
pay for the house according to your level of desire and fair market value. It is
our job to negotiate the lowest price the seller will accept, including all
commissions. That price should be no higher than your maximum price; many times
it is much lower.
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8. What happens if I find a home on my own?
When you become our client, we teach you how to find homes. We want you to find a home. We encourage you to drive around the neighborhoods you're interested in looking for properties other than those we've already told you about. When you decide to view a home, we will accompany you during the showing. We'll comment on the good aspects of the home, just like all other real estate agents, but we'll also comment on all the negative aspects of the home. We provide you with all information so that you can make an intelligent, informed decision. If you decide to make an offer, we will research the area to see what similar homes have sold for and discuss with you what we feel that home should sell for. Remember, most FSBO sellers don't know how to price their homes!
After your offer has been accepted, we accompany the home inspector to make
sure that you know as much as possible about what your costs will be during your
first year of ownership. Based on the home inspection, we will re-negotiate with
the seller if necessary. We review the contract of sale prior to signing and
make suggestions that are in your best interest. We are available to you during
the entire process.
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9. What does it mean when the sign on the front lawn says Ours Exclusively
or Exclusive?
An office exclusive is a home listed with a single real estate office that is
not being offered for sale to the general public. I call them "secret" homes.
Usually, the listing agent has suggested that the seller list with the office
and let them try to sell it on their own, sometimes for a reduced commission. In
any event, they do limited advertising in hopes of attracting a buyer quickly.
We are always looking to find these "secret" homes. Many are listed on websites,
in newspapers and magazines. They must let us show these homes to our clients,
while traditional agents can be excluded from showing these homes to their
customers.
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10. Other agents tell me that they are the only ones who can show the homes listed with their agency.
New York's Department of State supports home buyers. They have ruled that the buyer can choose to work with someone on their side or with someone on the seller's side. If they choose their own buyer's agent, any home listed by a real estate broker must me made available to the agent, just as it is to the buyer himself. So, your buyer's agent can show you many more homes than the traditional agent. We can show you any home in the Multiple Listing Service, any "secret" (office exclusive) home, and any home being sold directly by the seller (FSBO).
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11. Why do I have to sign a contract with you when I don't with a traditional agency?
Best Buyer's Broker Realty, Inc. works for you, the buyer. Traditional agents work for the seller. The seller signed a contract (the listing agreement) with a real estate agency in which the agency promises to use its expertise to help sell the house at the highest price, on the best terms, and in the shortest amount of time. In fact, seller's agents accomplish those objectives for their clients.
As buyers, you too have the opportunity to hire an experienced real estate
agency to use its expertise to help you find the best home at the lowest cost
with the least amount of stress. The act of hiring the agency is the buyer
agency agreement. This is a legal agreement that requires us to do the best we
can to help you reach your goals. We are very good at that. We have helped many
buyers purchase homes at a price that would have been impossible without our
aid.
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12. Why do you charge a retainer?
We ask for a fee up
front which is deducted from our commission at the closing. We are going to
train you to effectively find your new home. Depending on your criteria, we use
many different techniques to find what you want. In order to prove to you that
we can deliver what we say, we allow you to try us for two weeks. If for any
reason you feel it would be in your best interest to find your new home another
way, you may terminate our agreement within that trial period and your retainer
will be returned.
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13. You say you protect me. What does that mean?
One of our goals is to supply you with enough information to help you make an informed, intelligent decision. We provide you with all information that we can find out about the home, the schools, the crime rate, neighborhood problems, the condition of the home, an estimated sale price, etc., and anything additional you might want to find out. Here are some of the ways we help:
- We show you how to find homes in your price range and supply you with school information, including ethnic, expenditures, classroom size, lower grade scores, regent test scores, poverty rates, plus much more.
- You are encouraged to look through newspapers and magazines. We forward you our For Sale By Owner list of new listings many times each week.
- When you want to find out more information on any home we do the research and make the appointments.
- In the initial viewing of the home, we are looking for the many items that a traditional agent will not tell you.
- We look for any items which might be a negative, i.e. bedrooms which have no closet, bedrooms which must be entered by going through another bedroom, kitchens where the refrigerator is in the next room, low ceilings, lack of storage space, etc.
- If you decide you would like to make an offer on the home, we research comparable sales, provide information about the neighborhood, crime, schools, etc. We discuss what the probable sale price will be and advise you about a possible offer price. You make all the decisions.
- You will tell us the price you would like to pay and it is our job to negotiate to get your new home for the lowest price we can, but no higher than the price you gave us. We are not asking you to increase that price. If the seller is asking too much for the home, we will recommend you pass on this one and go on to another home.
- We accompany the home inspector looking for any item that is not up to our standards.
- Any negative item that is uncovered in the home inspection is reviewed with you. We discuss strategy on any re-negotiation that would be made.
- Re-negotiate with the seller.
- We offer to review the contract of sale, which is created by the seller's attorney. It obviously favors the seller. We have negotiated the deal and we want to review the contract to make sure that everything we wanted is included in the contract. Your attorney is there to make sure that all is legal; we are looking for other items.
- We explain the different types of financing and the need for home insurance.
- Just prior to closing we accompany you on a walk-through, making sure that the home is in the proper condition and check any items the seller was to fix.
- We attend the closing to make sure that everything goes along smoothly.
- We are available after closing to assist you with any additional needs you
might have.
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Just exactly how do commissions work?
When a seller hires a real estate agency to represent him, the seller and the agency agree to compensation for the services that the agency will provide. Four (4) parties share that fee. There are two sides to each transaction, the listing side and the selling side. The listing side consists of the listing agent (the person who took the listing) and the listing firm (the company the agent works for). The listing agent always works for the seller. The selling side represents the agent who brings a willing and able buyer to the seller for the purchase. The selling agent can be a sub-agent who also represents the seller, or a buyer's agent who represents the buyer. The selling agent and the selling firm usually share the commission under the seller's agreement.
Every listing agent tries hardest to sell his own listings. That way he will get the agent's fee on the listing side and the agent's fee on the selling side, while his (listing) firm will also get paid for both sides. If another agent in the same office acts as the selling agent, the first agent gets paid for the listing side, the second agent gets paid for the selling side and the firm gets paid for both the listing and the selling side. When an agent with another firm is the selling agent, the listing agent and the listing firm get paid for the listing side and the selling agent and the selling firm get paid for the selling side.
Best Buyer's Broker Realty, Inc. always represents the purchaser, on the
selling side (as opposed to the listing side) of the transaction. (We never list
homes for sale.) Each agent is always looking out for the best interests of
their client. Because of our office policy of only working for the buyer, we
never have any conflict of interest and don't collect fees from both the listing
and the selling side of the transaction. We have an obligation to protect our
client from the many problems and pitfalls that buyers fall into which result in
them either paying too much for the property or not getting what they assumed
they were getting. It is not our duty to let the seller know when their agent is
taking advantage of his client, just like it is not the duty of the traditional
real estate agent to tell you when he is taking advantage of you.
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