Finding the Right Agent

Before beginning the home buying process, you must remember that as a potential home buyer you are the one in charge--not the real estate agent, not the lender, or the lawyer.  More often than not, too many home buyers feel trapped due to a lack of knowledge of the process and rely on the judgment of others without knowing all of the facts and processes involved in home buying.  This is especially true when selecting a real estate agent that will walk you through one of the most important transaction of your life.

Savvy customers know that they have a right to interview agents to see how they will find and negotiate the sale of a home for them.  With the variety of services that agents offer and the varying levels of education that agents can go through, the selection of agents can be immeasurable.  

As a buyer, it is important to first seek out the services of a buyers agent.  This type of agent varies from other agents in the sense that they represent you in the real estate process, not the seller.  Often times, a buyer will call the agent listed on a for sale sign outside a property only to find out that when it comes time to negotiating your interests, that agent represents the seller.  Find out whom the agent represents.  Even though most states require the agent to disclose this fact to the buyer.  Be on the look out for agents that practice a form of buyer's representation called "dual agency".  Dual agency is when the real estate agent represents both the buyer and the seller and forces the agent to be neutral throughout the negotiating process.  Having someone looking our for your interests and offering their expert opinion about price and the condition of a home are invaluable when you consider you are spending anywhere from $100,000 to $200,000 and up.

A buyer's agent is contracted by you to represent your interest in the real estate process and has a fiduciary responsibility to do so from the beginning of the home shopping process until the close of escrow.  Most buyer's agents do not charge the buyer fees for their services.  This is because their commission comes from the seller who has already agreed to pay the buyers agent anywhere from a flat fee up to 4% of the sales price.  It is one of those strange but true paradoxes of real estate.

Finally, remember that the decision is yours to make.  Only you will have to live with that decision because once you have closed upon the home, you will have to live in it and only you will have to make the payments.