Many buyers drive around town looking for "For Sale" signs and open house signs, going through the newspapers and on the internet looking for homes. These home buyers don't know that they are entitled to buyer's representation. When you call the number on the For Sale sign, you are calling the agent for the seller, the agent who is being paid to represent the seller's best interest and negotiate for the best price and terms for the seller. This doesn't mean that they won't help you purchase the home, but remember, they are always negotiating for the "client" which is the seller and you are the "customer". This creates "dual agency" which the agent is required to disclose and you can agree or disagree with having dual agency.
You don't need to work so hard to find homes. The easiest thing to do is find a professional Realtor and have them do the work for you. You'll want to choose a real estate agent who is a "Realtor" which means they are a member of the National Association of Realtors. This gives you protections as they have agreed to a high level of service and are bound by the code of ethics which protects consumers. Make sure they are full-time professionals as well. Some agents feel that they can be effective being part time, but it just doesn't work. The inspections you are going to need later in the process when you put a contract on your new home, are almost always done during the day. So the part-time agent will have to try to get time off from their day job in order to take care of many of the details. Also find an agent with whom you get along well because you may be spending a lot of time with them!
Many agents do not charge a buyer's agent fee as when you purchase a home, the entire commission is paid for by the seller. A portion goes to the seller's agent and a portion goes to the buyer's agent. The money is paid to the brokerages and then the agents are paid by the brokers.
Your personal buyer's agent will help you find homes; they can e-mail you listings that fit your criteria. A lot of people like to take these listings, drive around the neighborhoods and choose their favorites, then call their agent and the agent sets up appointments to go look on the inside of the homes.
** Remember, if you are interested in new construction, make sure to call your buyer's agent and have them go to the new home center with you the very first visit or else you will not be able to have buyer's representation, you'll have to use the builder's agent. **
Your buyer's agent can give you information about the local schools, churches, shopping, etc. They can do a comparable home analysis for the home you are considering purchasing, to make sure you are offering a fair price for it. They can also negotiate with the seller's agent on your behalf, possibly helping you get concessions like a price reduction or some or all of your closing costs paid. We are in a buyer's market now and there are a lot of homes available so most sellers are willing to negotiate. Your buyer's agent will be experienced in negotiating and will have a good idea of how much to ask for if any, depending upon the time on the market and the competition.
Sometimes this negotiating goes back and forth a few times with counter-offers. If the seller doesn't take your first offer, most of the time they will give you a counter-offer with what they will accept and then it is up to you whether you like the offer or want to make another counter-offer. All of the paperwork has to be done properly or you could have problems down the road.
Once the contract is accepted and signed, it is called "ratified". At this point, your buyer's agent will begin working with the seller's agent, the mortgage lender, and the title company to coordinate everything and get all the details taken care of so we can get to settlement. This includes inspections, possibly more addendums for any changes, repairs, if any needed by the home inspection, etc. There is a lot involved and your experienced buyer's agent will take care of it for you so you can focus on your move.
Your agent will go over all of the paperwork for you, making sure everyone is on the same page - you, the sellers, the loan officer, and the title company. Your buyer's agent will also accompany you to settlement to make sure all of the paperwork is done properly so that you can move into your new home!
Many buyer's agents will also represent you as a seller if you have a home to sell. This is very convenient, to use the same agent to do both for you so that they can coordinate the two settlements. Some people like to settle on the home they are selling the same day as the home they are buying. There are a lot of other options as well if you need to move before selling your home. A good agent will be able to discuss different financing options that may be available to you and will refer you to a lender to help you.
If you are planning on selling your home and buying another, it is human nature to want to find your new home first, then sell the house you are in. BUT, in this buyer's market, that is the stressful way to do it. The better way is to list your home for sale and wait until you have a buyer for it. Then you make your contract contingent on you finding your home of choice. Because there are so many homes on the market, you are going to have many choices, but so is your potential buyer. Many homes are staying on the market for several months now before selling unless they are priced very aggressively, so keep this in mind. Moving is stressful in itself, even if it is a good move to a better home, so the easier you can make it on yourself, the better!
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