Do I REALLY Need an Agent to Buy a House?!?

Raise your hand if you have ever asked yourself the question, “Do I really need a real estate agent to buy a house?” I mean, it seems pretty simple, right? You search online, go to an open house, fall in love, make an offer and boom! Homeowner.

Well, it’s actually not quite THAT simple. So, read on for a quick education not only about why you DO in fact need an agent to help you buy a house, but also why you need to work with an agent under Buyer Agency.

I want to start by addressing a topic I find hugely important and that is Buyer’s Agency. In the state of Wisconsin, there are several duties that we, as agents, owe to all of the parties in a transaction, regardless of who we are representing. Those duties are as follows:

1. The duty to provide brokerage services to you fairly and honestly.
2. The duty to exercise reasonable skill and care in providing brokerage services to you.
3. The duty to provide you with accurate information about market conditions within a reasonable time if you request it, unless disclosure of the information is prohibited by law.
4. The duty to disclose to you in writing certain Material Adverse Facts about a property, unless disclosure of the information is prohibited by law
   **A material adverse fact is information that negatively affects the value of the property or a party’s ability to perform its obligations in a real estate transaction**
5. The duty to protect your confidentiality. Unless the law requires it, the firm and its agents will not disclose your confidential information or the confidential information of other parties.
   **NOTE: This does not allow us to interpret market conditions, it simply requires us to provide you with the information that you can review & utilize as you wish**
6. The duty to safeguard trust funds and other property, the firm or its agents holds.
7. The duty, when negotiating, to present contract proposals in an objective and unbiased manner and disclose the advantages and disadvantages of the proposals
   **NOTE: This does not give us the ability to negotiate on your behalf. It requires us to present the information to you so that you may make a decision on next steps**

So, what does entering into a Buyer Agency get you? Once you enter into a Buyer Agency Agreement, you become the client of the agent (& their firm…so in my case Keller Williams). Prior to this, you were a customer. As a client, we now owe you the above duties, in addition to these:

1. The firm or one of its agents will provide, at your request, information and advice on real estate matters that affect your transaction, unless you release the firm from this duty.
   **This goes beyond the market conditions information duty above and allows us the ability to go a step beyond in offering advice based on anything that might affect the transaction. For example, if we pull comparable properties and find the property in question is overpriced, we can then recommend a reasonable offer price based on our experience in the market.*
2. The firm or one of its agents must provide you with all material facts affecting the transaction, not just Adverse Facts.
   **As a party to a real estate transaction, there may be things that are important to you that are not required to be disclosed by the seller, but would impact your desire to purchase a home. Without Buyer Agency, we cannot disclose these things to you. With it, we are required to. For example, you have a severe allergy to cats and absolutely do not want to purchase a home that cats have lived in. This is not something that would negatively impact the value of the property, and as such not considered a material adverse fact requiring disclosure. However, when you enter into Buyer’s Agency, this material fact is something your agent must disclose to you.*
3. The firm and its agents will fulfill the firm’s obligations under the agency agreement and fulfill your lawful requests that are within the scope of the agency agreement.
   
4. The firm and its agents will negotiate for you, unless you release them from this duty.
   **Without Buyer Agency, both agents in the transaction must work in the best interest of the seller. This means that the agent writing “on your behalf” can only do as you direct and cannot offer you any negotiating advice. Under Buyer Agency, you now have true representation in the negotiations process and your agent is authorized and required to negotiate on your behalf.**
5. The firm and its agents will not place their interests ahead of your interests. The firm and its agents will not, unless required by law, give information or advice to other parties who are not the firm’s clients, if giving the information or advice is contrary to your interests.
   **Kind of self explanatory, but this means you have representation. A true ally working on your behalf, in your best interest.**

 

Now that we have that explanation out of the way, here are 3 Things to Consider about the Home Buying Process:

#1: Buying a home involves a lot more steps than most people realize

A buyer’s agent helps you navigate the entire home buying process step by step. They start by going over the entire process so you know what to expect.They will help you identify your wants and needs in a home and set up a custom home search to match those needs. This will save you a ton of time, give you the guidance you will need and allow you to focus on finding the right home. They may even help you identify features you didn’t know were important!

#2: A Buyer’s Agent works in your best interest, not the seller’s
In addition to helping you find a house that meets your needs, they will also help you understand your options when writing an offer, advise you on the market and help you determine what price to offer the sellers. If you are in a seller’s market and you end up finding a home that has multiple offers on the table, they will provide you with strategies to make your offer stand out and help you to match the seller’s priorities. Once you have an accepted offer, they maintain strong communication with both you and the listing agent so you will always be kept in the loop and never wondering what’s next. An Accepted Offer is only the beginning. There are other steps involved before you get the keys to your new house. A buyer’s agent will negotiate on your behalf and help get you to the closing table successfully.

#3: The Best Part: It costs you NOTHING to hire a Buyer’s Agent
You might be thinking, well this all sounds great and I would love to have someone work on my behalf but how much is someone like this going to cost? You might have to rewind and hear this twice but – it costs you ZERO! That’s right! – zip, zero, zilch! The sellers are actually responsible for paying the buyer agent’s commission. So what are you waiting for?!

So do you need a Real Estate Agent to buy a house? The answer is it is 100% in your absolute best interest to hire a buyer’s agent (at zero cost) when you are looking for a new home! Find a buyer’s agent who you feel is a good fit for helping you through this exciting and potentially nerve wracking process of buying a home. When you interview different agents, you’ll want to make sure you choose someone who not only seems knowledgeable but someone who will be available, communicate the way you want, and someone you feel comfortable with.

AND, last but not least, my one critical tip to consider is to make sure you choose a Real Estate Agent to represent you BEFORE you begin house hunting! If you contact a listing agent to show you a home that you are interested in, and you decide to write an offer on that house, you will not be represented in the purchase of your home. The listing agent works for the seller and if they show you the home, you will become a protected buyer by what is known as procuring cause. So, even if you go out and hire an agent before you choose to write an offer, they will not be able to represent you. That is why it’s SO SO important that you have an agent on your side before you start the house hunting process!

There you have it – Buyer’s Agency in a nutshell. Are you ready to start house hunting? I would LOVE to represent you. Let’s grab a cup of coffee and chat about your buying goals and get started!! Connect with me on Facebook or Instagram (@homestylerealtygroup) or directly via email astaebler@kw.com or phone 262-391-0593.