REASONS TO SIGN A BUYER REPRESENTATION AGREEMENT

You’ve started looking for a home and a real estate professional to assist you, your buyer’s representative may ask you to sign a Buyer’s Representation Agreement….what is this form and why should you sign it? 

A Buyer’s Representation Agreement or Buyer’s Agency Agreement is a legal document that formalizes your working relationship with a particular buyer’s representative, detailing what services you are entitled to and what your buyer’s rep expects from you in return.  While the language used in the document is formal, homebuyers should view it as an important and helpful tool for clarifying expectations, developing mutual loyalty and most of all, elevating the services you will receive. 

Here are five (5) reasons why you should use a Buyer’s Agent:

  1. Receive a higher level of service:  If you’ve formalized an agency relationship with a buyer’s rep, you can expect to be treated like a client instead of a customer…what’s the difference?? Clients are entitled to superior services, relative to customers.  While the details vary from state to state, and from one buyer’s agent to another you can generally assume that being a client means that you’ve formed a fiduciary, or agency relationship with your buyer’s rep. 
  2. Get more without paying more:  in almost every case, home sellers have already agreed to pay a buyer’s agent’s commission, if they haven’t you can ask your buyer’s rep to avoid showing you any such homes.  Or you can still view the homes knowing that you will need to factor in your agent’s commission into any offer you may write.  While buyers rarely pay real estate commissions, this is an important detail you’ll want to discuss with your buyer’s rep and clarify in their representation agreement.
  3. Ways to avoid misunderstandings:  A Buyer’s Agency Agreement clarifies expectations, helping you understand what you should and shouldn’t expect from your buyer’s rep and what they will expect from you…which usually centers on loyalty to one another. 
  4. Agency relationships are based on mutual consent:  While most representation agreements specify a time period, like six months, they can be terminated early if both parties consent.  Most buyers’ reps are willing to end the agreement early if the working relationship isn’t going too smoothly.  Some buyer’s reps also offer representation agreements for as little as one day, for the purpose of giving both parties a brief trial period to explore working together. 
  5. Strength as a team:   When you and your buyer’s rep work together within a formalized agency relationship, you have created a team dedicated to helping you achieve the best possible home buying experience! 

For more information on homes in Summit County, Colorado, please visit www.YourSummitRealEstate.com to find a representative that will be pleased to help you.