What does a Buyer’s agent really do?

I’m a sucker for reading real estate blogs. Aparment Therapy is one that Apple News has realized I fall for their headlines and click through regularly and highly recommend if you are looking for staging tips, decorating ideas for small spaces or even trends in big city buying vs. renting. But my news feed has also been filled with articles about buying vs renting in general and of course the latest law suit about sellers not wanting to pay buyer agent commissions.

Open the door to a home

If you haven’t heard about the lawsuit yet, here is a pretty good and thorough summary of what is going on. Most of the articles I have read either imply or out right state that buyer’s find their house online anyway, and so they don’t really need an agent. Ironically, the last few years, buyer’s agents have worked so hard many suffered from burnout while barely making a living. How do we have such a gap in reality vs. impression? I think full service agents like myself are to blame. We try and make the process so seemless, that you don’t really know how much we do.

Let’s start with one of the biggest ideas put out there. That the buyer really does all of the searching anyway, before they even meet us. This is probably occassionally true. But really, what is most helpful about over 90% of people starting their search online, is that they have a better idea of what they want and what you can get in their budget. Exactly once, have I had a client call me on a random Tuesday, tell me they found a house online they wanted to see, and they bought it. It’s the 3rd house I’ve sold her, and she knew exactly what she wanted, where she wanted it, how much she could afford and kept a vigilant eye out for it.

More often than not, buyer’s think they know what they want and after our initial interview, we end up removing most, if not all, of the homes they had on their list before we ever get in the car. Either that, or the first day is very disappointing for them and enlightening for both of us. The house is farther away than they realized, or the neighbors are closer than they thought and we have to look in a different area. When they start thinking about how they want to use the home or the yard, they see that it is too small or too big or just has the wrong spaces for them right now.

What we do when we aren’t with clients is explore areas and neighborhoods. We experience the drives on weekdays and keep an eye out for services. We check out builders inventory homes so we can see how they build, what their strengths are and where their weaknesses are without having an excited client right next to us. We do a ton of research that takes time, puts miles on our cars and makes us more knowledgeable to help our clients once we meet.

Full service agents also put our clients together with the vendors they need to get through this process, and for buyer’s this starts with the lender. I don’t need to know all of your personal financial information, but I need either your bank or a mortgage professional to sit down with you and figure out how much you can really afford. Did you remember that 401K loan you took out a few years ago? Did you count the student loans? It’s always hard to realize your budget is less than you imagined. I’ll also counsel my clients on the additional expenses with moving into a new place, particularly new construction or one with more land than they have ever had before.

Once we have where, what and a budget and then finally find a property, it’s time to put in an offer. The best agents know it’s about more than price and closing date for negotiation and after reviewing and completing the offer, you’ll understand it’s more than filling in a couple of blanks. There is a reason it’s a small booklet and takes over an hour to review and sign. BTW, I don’t just send you the forms to sign after asking a few questions. One of the reasons so many of my clients actually close on the house they’ve gone under contract for is that they understand the contract and their obligations and risks before signing, because I’ve explained it.

I’ve also explained all of the research I’ve done about the house between when we see it and the time we make the offer. I do pay for access to quite a few platforms that make it easier to access information and I know what to look for before we make an offer, both typical items and items our discussions have made me look into for them specifically. I’ll do more than a glorified Zestimate and pull the tax records, because there are more factors to consider when buying or determining value. I check DOT, schools (even if they don’t have kids), corp of engineer maps (if it’s on the lake) and so much more. Except you only see the DOT information, if it shows the two lane road behind the house is planned to be widened in the next 20 years or the schools are capped in your area. So my clients may not even remember, if I even mentioned that I looked it up.

We start the negotiation process as we determine what to put in those blanks on the offer. What is your top you can pay? What is the flexibility for closing and possession? Did you want the theater system or appliances? How long do you want/need for inspections and to feel comfortable about the financing? What can we offer and how far can we compromise? While there are those who only see the offer price, often times it are these other factors that determine if we get the offer, especially in a multiple offer situation and relocation.

My strongest recommendation for all purchasers of real estate, is to understand every aspect of the offer. If you are not using a licensed agent to represent you, then hire an attorney to review it with you. Far too many deals fall apart and lawsuits result from someone not really understanding what they signed. I’d rather spend an extra hour answering your questions (and many times I’ve spent two hours instead of one just for this reason) than spend 20 hours holding a deal together in the middle because you didn’t understand all of the contract implications.

Once we have found the property and gotten it under contract, a Realtor’s work has really just begun.