Buying

Buying a property?

If you are looking for a new home, your first home or an investment property, we would be pleased to help you. We believe that the key to success in this, is for us to understand exactly what you are looking for in your new home. This is much more than filling in the boxes on a search form. Anyone can do that. It is about understanding what you want your life to be like in your new home. How will it fit your lifestyle, and how will you and your family enjoy your new neighbourhood?

What is a Buyer's Agent?

A real estate transaction has a buyer and a seller. The seller's agent, or listing agent, represents them. The seller signs a listing contract with their agent. This formally defines their agency relationship. In essence the seller's agent has a duty to represent the best interests of the sellers. The seller agrees to pay the agent a commission on the sale of their property. The listing contract also defines what proportion of this commission is to be paid to the buyer's agent.

The buyer's agent, not surprisingly, represents the buyers in the real estate transaction. Their relationship is to the buyers. There may or may not be a contract between the buyers and their agent, but even without a written contract, there is an agency relationship that is recognized in law. This is because the agent is acting for and on behalf of the buyers, which in itself establishes the agency relationship.

Why use a Buyer's Agent?

The main reason to use a buyer's agent is so that you have someone whose duty is exclusively to you. If you were to use the seller's agent, as people sometimes do, then you are not being represented at all. The seller's agent represents the sellers not you.

There are other good reasons for using a buyer's agent well before you are ready to write an offer.

What does a Buyer's Agent do?

A buyer's agent works for you, but what do they do? Below is a list of the things that we would do for you as your buyer's agents:

• Get to understand what you need and want in a home.
• Select and suggest suitable properties for you to view.
• Send you listings with full information on the property.
• Make appointments and accompany you to see properties of interest.
• Arrange and take you on tours to view a number of properties in an area.
• Give you information on the real estate market in your chosen area.
• Get you details of comparable properties sold recently.
• Present you with enough information so that you can come to an informed decision on what to offer.
• Draw up legally binding offers for the purchase of your chosen property.
• Negotiate with the sellers on your behalf.
• Once your offer is accepted we would help you carry out your due diligence so that you can safely remove subjects - or not.
• Finally we will be there to meet you when you move into your new home.

How do you make best use of us as your Buyer's Agent?

The first step is to get in touch with us and talk about your real estate needs. If we are to help you then we want to know as much as we can about your real estate requirements. You will need to tell us the obvious things: number of bedrooms, bathrooms, size, price range, etc.

We have also found that buying a home is more than just your basic needs. This is a very personal thing - your home is probably your major financial investment, but it is also an investment in your family and lifestyle. So by going beyond your basic needs, we aim to find out about what you want and why. The last part is often the most important. By understanding your motivation we may be able to find something that works for you that you may not have even considered on your own.

Once we have an initial understanding of your needs and wants, we set you up with our home hunter automated email alerts. These are a great way of keeping on top of the real estate market because you will be seeing new listings as soon as they appear on the MLX and that can be three days or so before they appear on the public MLS site. You have already got ahead of anyone who is not using a buyer's agent. Your role is to check these emails to see if any are of interest.

If you are available to see properties during the day, our usual practice when you are actively looking is to take you to the agents previews. This is when new listings are first shown to realtors. By taking you to these, you have another chance to get in and see something before anyone else. This has been particularly useful in our recent hot market.

All of this time spend with you, taking you to view properties or talking over the listings we’ve sent you, gives us a great understanding of you. Often we find that our clients enjoy this process and seem almost sad when it is over and they've found their new home. We're pleased to say that many of our clients start off as strangers and become friends by the time they've moved in.

What if you want to work with us?

Give us a call. We will be happy to meet up so that you can decide if you want us to help you with your next move.

Relocating?

Helping people relocate is one of our core strengths. If you are moving to the area then you might be interested in our relocation service. Find out more...