Is Using A Lawyer To Buy Your Portland Metro Home Better Than Using A Buyer's Agent?
I received a sign call yesterday on one of my Portland listings, and after asking the pre-requisite questions like "Have you started the pre-approval process?" and "Are you currently working with an agent?" we agreed to meet at the home later that afternoon.
At first contact, I handed him the Initial Agency Disclosure Pamphlet that by law we need to give as well as the MLS client full on the home. He looked at the disclosure and said" Oh, I don't need that, I'm a lawyer". Oh..um..OK. It turns out he was representing the woman that I thought was his wife for the purchase.
I asked why they weren't using a buyer's agent to look for their Portland home and the woman said she was paying her lawyer to do this. I explained that using a buyer's agent is not only in their best interest as the buyer is not paying anything for their representation in most cases, but they also have a key!
Her lawyer was calling up the listing agents asking to view the home. I'm not sure if they are recent to Portland as he mentioned he was from the east coast area and the discussion was shut down quickly. They weren't interested in listening to me as they were pretty set on going this route.
What I couldn't tell them since they shut me down was that his client was most likely at a disadvantage with him representing her. Not only can we not pay him the co-op fee as he is not a licensed agent in Oregon, but it also wasn't clear whether he was familiar with Oregon's real estate contracts..or using them when offering on a home.
I know if I'm representing a seller and I received two offers on the same property, one by
a co-op agent and another by a non-co-op agent lawyer who is asking to take the co-op commission off the sales price (this has to be the reason), I would more likely want to work with the co-op agent before a lawyer.
Maybe I'm missing something here, but it seems like this buyer is at a disadvantage by paying her lawyer when she doesn't have to, and by not hiring a buyer's agent to work with and for them to find properties and set appointments. She can still have her lawyer look over all the documents before signing.
Of course it's not required to use a buyer's agent, but why would you not want to have your own representation and have your offer put forth in the best light it can be?
Is Using A Lawyer To Buy Your Portland Metro Home Better Than Using A Buyer's Agent?
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