02/19/2020
Why hire a buyer’s agent first?
An experienced agent will help make all the other steps easier. And, generally, they are already going to be paid for, so you get the representation with no added expense. They are also motivated to help you buy a house, because they don’t get paid until the job is done. I recommend that you find someone you KNOW, LIKE, and TRUST. Let me expand on that a little.
The KNOWing aspect is pretty easy. If you don’t know who the agent is, or even that they exist, then you won’t be able to ask them to help you. This is where asking family and friends for referrals comes in handy.
On to the topic of LIKE: if you can’t stand them, it will make communication difficult. Clear, regular communications are critical.
TRUST, in my opinion, requires two parts: CARE, and COMPETENCE. In order to trust someone you must feel that they have your personal, best interest at heart. You may have heard the phrase, “No one cares how much you know, until they know how much you care.” After you know they care, then that whole, “how much they know,” becomes pretty important. Whoever you choose must also have the training, and capacity to perform the required tasks.
But what kind of behaviours would demonstrate trustworthiness in this situation? I believe in real world examples. The only real world examples I have come from my experience. So, how have I demonstrated care? I, personally, in the course of helping people buy their first home, have talked them out of buying a house for a couple of years. I have talked them out of buying the more expensive house, in some situations, and in others I have talked them out of buying the cheaply priced money pit. What I discussed with them, and how I spoke to them depended on what THEY needed, what THEY were looking for. I asked questions, a lot of questions; I let them think, and then I listened. If something in a given situation didn’t feel right to them, I assured them that it didn’t feel right to me, and I helped them figure out how to navigate out of the situation. Those behaviours, I believe, demonstrated care.
How have I demonstrated competence? By negotiating an average savings of 3.3% of the purchase prices of the homes I have helped buy, as well as an average of 1.6% of the price of those homes being contributed to the buyer’s closing costs. In all, an average savings of 4.9% for my buyer clients. With a buyer’s brokerage traditionally being paid 2.5-3% in commission, (I don’t get all of that, my broker receives part of it) I have paid for myself, and then some. As a matter of disclosure the preceding figures are an average. Individual results may vary. I can say that IF there is room to negotiate, I will. (Straight brag: the most I have helped save in a single transaction…$30,897.00 in house price, and buyer’s closing costs, close to 9% total. That is over three times what my brokerage was paid for my services. And my broker was paid from the SELLER’S proceeds.) In addition, I have helped bring escrow to a close in a timely manner. When clients had issues after the deal was done, I knew who to contact to get the situation handled. Competent? Look at the results.
If you are reading this, then you know of me. Perhaps I have demonstrated trustworthiness to you, but still you may not like me. Perhaps my confidence comes across as arrogance, that’s not my intention, I want to communicate clearly HOW I can, and have helped others in buying their first home. If you still find me irritating, please find someone else with whom you do feel comfortable talking to.
Do not do this alone, you have nothing to gain from it. There are people who are trained to help you navigate the purchase of your first home. Make finding the right one your first priority, and the rest will start to fall into place.
