Should I Hire a Buyer’s Agent?
Jim Smith wrote a column recently addressing a question so many future homeowner’s ask: Should I hire a buyer’s agent?
I understand and have written many times about sellers who want to sell without the help of a listing agent, but it’s harder to understand a buyer who doesn’t want the help of a buyer’s agent. Yet that’s exactly the kind of buyer I met at an open house Saturday. . . (click here to read more)
The comments of your prospective buyer are interesting. I also understand the difficulty writing about this issue without sounding self-serving.
As a mortgage originator, I can comment about it without having any commission interest in the transaction. My observation is that you are both right. Your perspective points out why an agent working specifically with the buyer is important. Without getting too deep into the agency issues, I just know that I an negotiate better for someone else than I can for myself. It is very hard to keep emotion out of a personal transaction while it is relatively easy to deal objectively with someone else’s situation. I think it is useful to have a trusted advisor on my side in any large transaction.
From my perspective, the issues raised by your prospective buyer are valid, but they really go to the heart of choosing an advisor, not if I should use an advisor. I agree that many agents are poor listeners, but if I am buyers, I only have to find one who is a good listener.
I see the issue of talking to the listing agent is another agent selection issue. If I want to talk to sellers or listing agents, it shouldn’t be a problem if I simply select an agent who is OK with it. I would see it as an advantage to have an agent with me when talking to the listing agent or seller. A good agent would see or hear things I would miss, enhancing our negotiating position. I see no disadvantage to an extra set of eyes and ears.
The final point is the most difficult to overcome with someone who is not a professional negotiator. This is simply a lack of understanding of the power associated with not having final decision authority. The best place to see this in action is in almost any car dealer. People say they hate the process, bu the negotiating power is in the dealer’s hands because the dealer’s decision maker rarely sits down with the customer face to face. The dealer’s decision understands the power of using an intermediary, the sales person. If negotiating face to face was to the dealer’s advantage, customers would not experience the process of the sale person running back and forth to check with the boss.
Based On my experience and observations of others, the issue is not whether to use a buyer’s agent. The issue is which buyer’s agent to use. In my own last purchase, the listing agent offered me a credit not to bring in my own agent. I told him thanks, but I would use an agent I selected. When the transaction closed, we had negotiated a price concession roughly 10 times the credit that was offered plus valuable nonstandard terms. I don’t think the listing agent understood what was given in terms. My agent more than earned his commission. The listing agent was paid a very small commission for the size of the transaction. My opinion is that the seller made a costly choice by selecting an agent based primarily on commission.
Don Opeka – President
Licensed Colorado Mortgage Loan Originator MB100007878
Colorado Certified Mortgage Broker
Orion Mortgage, Inc.
10560 Wadsworth Blvd.
Broomfield, CO 80021
303-469-1254
800-404-0453
www.OrionMortgage.net
Don@OrionMortgageInc.com
Check the license status of any Colorado mortgage loan originator at http://eservices.psiexams.com/crec/search.jsp
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