Many people search for a home by going online, in the newspaper, or going to a house for sale. Worse yet they talk to a bunch of different agents trying to do the entire search on their own, without ever considering hiring anybody to fight for their best interests.

These folks are at the whim of whatever the sellers wants. Little do they know there is a much better way to do this.

That conversation you had with a listing agent is shared with the seller. Say you had a slip of the tongue, told them how much you loved the home, that you were in a bind to find a place, all those things tell the seller they can be less negotiable with you.

Confidentiality is crucial and you don’t have any unless you hire a buyer’s agent. Yes, make an obligation to work with a good agent. This opens all kinds of doors for you first of which is a legal obligation to keep what you share confidential. Your agent can then do the legwork in researching properties, organizing your search, negotiating on your behalf, and making suggestions to your benefit from their vast experience.

It’s like a lawyer who represents you in court. They are looking out for your best interests. Now hiring an agent means understanding how they get paid, if that agent requires any additional pay or simply goes for the co-op / standard commission offered by the seller (will explain more later). It tells you how long they will assist you and what they can help you with.

You in no way loose control over the process by committing to an agent, you only benefit to get additional help at no cost to you.

Should I work with a friend to buy my home

Everybody has that friend who left work to get their Real Estate License or buddy who’s wife got her license. Do NOT make a rash choice to work with them simply because they are friends. Your friends should never value commissions (money) above your friendship, yet this may be the very scenario if you choose a friend as an agent.

I have no shortage of stories where somebody felt obligated to work with a friend. The client would have been better off to pay the full commission to that friend and work with somebody else in every circumstance without exception. Worse yet that agent is no longer a friend. We were called in to fix the problems were created and in hindsight, everyone regretted having valued friendship over qualifications (two completely different things).

You can interview friends, but at the end of the day, you need to make your decision based on who is best qualified to for the task at hand. True friends will respect your decision and support you regardless. You can pay them back by sharing your feedback on who you ultimately chose. That feedback is far more valuable than your commission as it helps them further their career and get more clients in the future.

Be very cautious if you fear that agent will not accept feedback. This red flag, says don’t work with this agent. The process of collecting feedback from you helps the agent understand what you want in a home and ultimately earns them a commission when they help you find it. Otherwise, you’re at the mercy of whatever gets the agent the easiest commission.

Are there commissions if I don’t use an agent?

Everybody pays for an agent whether they hire one or not. A co-op/buyer agent commission is required as a condition of the seller placing the home on the market. That co-op is for any licensed agent to bring a buyer, perhaps you, to purchase the home from that listing broker’s client, the seller.

The co-op fee/commission is paid even if you go directly to the listing broker to purchase the home. Only in this scenario, the listing broker gets your agent’s co-op fee in addition to the listing fee. Essentially they get paid double and you have nobody looking out for you.

So in short, make it a point to hire your Real Estate agent. They are going to invest in you and the least you can do is sign a paper agreeing to work with them.

One last note, a few folks think they can collect the buyer’s agent co-op for themselves, or get a hefty discount from the seller for not using one. This is absolutely not the case, and well, even illegal. Arizona state law dictates that only folks who hold real estate licenses can collect payment for preparing contracts and activities facilitating the sale of Real Estate. That is anything attached to the sale of land, be it homes, or barren land.

A few crafty websites seek to swipe your contact info and assign you an agent based on the premise that you’d get to keep half that agents commission. This is an empty promise as well. That is 100% illegal in Arizona, you would never know that though had I not said something. So be very careful what you get yourself into.

Drop me a line and let’s get the conversation started so you can hire an agent your sure is the right person to help you out.