I've talked to a buyer on the phone or exchanged e-mails and we are about to meet for the first time...it feels a lot like a blind date!  They have the edge, though, because they've seen my picture and I don't have a clue what they look like!  "We'll be the ones driving the silver mini-van", they say...kind of like the guy with the red rose in his lapel!

So we meet and now, by law, I have to talk to them about buyer agency...a topic that makes most consumer's eyes glaze over with boredom (until something goes wrong!).  So I describe it like this:

We've just met and we don't know much about each other, but the State requires me to ask you if you would enter into an agreement to have me represent you....in other words, before the first date is done I'm already proposing marriage!  How about we do this...let's agree to sign an agreement that I'm going to represent you for a short period of time...today, this weekend, this week.  At the end of our time together, we'll both be able to ascertain if the chemistry is right for us to continue. ..and have our second date!  When the short term agreement is about to expire, I'll send you another agreement with a longer time frame associated with it.  If you don't want to go on seeing me, you don't even have to send me a "Dear Jane" letter...you just don't sign the new agreement.

But, let's assume we get along great and I'm everything you hoped for in a buyer's agent and we enter into a longer representation agreement (we're going steady!).  It is the buyer's agent's responsibility to be your advocate, your champion, your source for information, your partner in this search for the perfect property and to do so with your interests put first (kind of like a Stepford wife...it's all about you!)

The good news is we found your perfect property and you are happily going to your closing knowing that this wonderful relationship that started out like a blind date is going to end in a mutually agreed upon divorce without any of the messiness...and we'll stay friends!

 
Posted by Wendy Brown on 06/21/2009 03:37 PM   Comments (2)   Buyer Representation in the ActiveRain Channel   buyer representation  
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This post has been included in Rhode Island Real Estate News

2 Comments on Buyer Agency is a lot like dating!

JUN
21
2009

Interesting approach...  I'm not a big fan of Buyer Agency Agreements however if State Law requires that one be signed by the prospective purchaser before looking at homes then that's a different animal.

I've found on the occassions that I've attempted to use the agreement it has been a bit of hurdle and since most of my clients didn't defect to use another agent it seemed a bit overkill.  About 10% of my clients would ultimately buy from someone else and in retrospect we weren't getting along that well anyway so it likely we would have had to come to some sort of agreement to "break-up" so to speak.

If a state requires it that's one thing.  Otherwise I have a conversation on how I work and what they can expect from me.  I normally don't ask early on if they are working with another agent since this normally sets the stage for me not being their agent since many clients have "worked with another agent" which can range from taking to someone on the phone to actually previously working on a deal that didn't come together and whom the client doesn't want to work with anymore.  Ultimately similar to dating I assume in words and in action that they are going to be exclusive to me and the markets that I serve and generally speaking those actions speak louder then a piece of paper.

I also look at it this way... "If I drop the ball the client shouldn't be obligated to continue to work with me and it shouldn't be hard for the client to go elsewhere."
4:04pm • #1

I work in two states that require some sort of buyer agency discussion be held and something signed at first meeting!

I agree that there are times when you should "break up"...I just make it easy to do while abiding by the laws of the states...and I have fun with it.  And I totally agree that we need to make it easy for them to break up with us if we aren't working well enough for them!
4:15pm • #2


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Wendyl

Wendy Brown

Westerly, RI

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