So you’re in the market for a new home on Staten Island. Consequently, on Saturday you say to your spouse lets take a ride and look at homes. So your first stop takes you to Annadale, you heard good things about the area and decided to start there. You spot a home, and there’s a for sale sign out front. You grab the cell phone and call the real estate company listing the home, and they put you in touch with the listing agent. The real estate agent is on another call, she will call back. Okay, moving along you have your Staten Island Advance Real Estate section handy, and was intrigued by a new construction open house ad in Tottenville. The home features new hardwood floors radiant heat, in-ground pool. You pull up, there’s a friendly real estate agent, he greets you talked about the homes features. You’re impressed, but you still want to take another look at another home your saw on a real estate website. Your travels take you to Huguenot where a center hall colonial you found online is located. Later that evening you go online and email the agent.  

You ask, what’s the point to knowing all of this. Well there are two sides to every transaction in real estate, the sell side and the buy side. The real estate agent you call from a sign, or by contacting the listing agent directly for any home is most likely representing the sell side or the sellers interest in the negotiation. A listing agent owes fiduciary responsibility to the seller, which means that agent is negotiating in the seller’s best interest. However, that does not preclude an agent with having fair and honest dealings with you. It just means his or her job in negotiations, is to get the most for the home they have listed. 

Now here is the little known secret in real estate, you as the buyer can work with an agent that represents your interest in the negotiations. It’s called buyer agency, its an agreement you sign with a real estate agent to find your home, and negotiate in your best interest. This buyer agency had been a rare occurrence in the past. Most of the time buyer agents were hired by celebrities or high profile individuals who did not want their identity revealed when seeking a home. This was done to remove the impact of their status on price of the home they were seeking. However, it has been more common place for buyers to seek agents to work on their behalf. The reason is real estate moves fast (good deals still move fast these days, don’t let news reports fool you.) any deals and information gathered by the agent, who works in your interest are sought, putting you at an advantage in finding a home and negotiating for the best price.  

Here are some advantages of working with a real estate agent for buyers (Buyer Agency)

The agent can compose a Comparable Market Analysis, revealing at home prices of similar properties in the surrounding area have been listed for and sold for, based on real time data, not old data through public records.

 The agent can reveal to you any information about the seller that the agent has been able to gain about a particular home or property.

Information about property and home value trends in a particular community, which may influence your decision about a certain area can be relayed to you.

Negotiating the price downward based on the agents knowledge of similar homes and market knowledge. 

So working with a buyer agent can be worthwhile and put you in a home of your dreams because of their awareness of the market, access to new listing information and updates, and just keeping their eyes on deals that may pop up, when you might not have the information in hand act in time.