“I first came across the concept of a Real Estate Buyers Agent back in 2005 when I was attempting to buy my first house in Sydney. I was frustrated in so many ways, losing my weekends chasing property, attending lots and lots of open homes, becoming a master of getting around specific Sydney suburbs to meet specific time slots and missing out on deals – daily. In short, finding a home for my family was turning out to be a full-time job!
When I first heard about a buyer’s agent, I was confused as to what they actually did, and who they were working for. When I figured it all out, I initially dismissed the idea because I am used to me doing the work and there being no fee for that side of the transaction. When I stopped and analysed the time, travel, the frustration at seeing properties that were just plain wrong – not to mention the frayed relationship with the one I loved – I got over myself and jumped in.
Once we had our requirements laid out, and our financial situation well understood, we were off the hook from wasting our weekends. The agent had us do our homework to ensure we were financially ready to buy and then they set about doing their homework/research on the areas we were keen on. They shortlisted properties that matched our buying criteria and only sent us into highly targeted homes. When we expressed our interest in one of the homes, that’s where they earn their fees.
It’s their role to negotiate with the vendor – agent to agent. The selling agent knows that the buyer’s agent client is approved financially, they also know that the buying agent represents lots more financially approved clients down the track so they will tend to favour a buyer’s agent client than a direct client. It’s like having an insider do the deal for you.
I know for a fact that without using my buyer’s agent that we would never have secured our first home. We were shown the ‘other’ offer that was tabled and it was exactly the same as ours. We were presented as the favourable offer as we had done all the work required to be cashed up and ready to go. We were better prepared by having been taken through their process.
Other benefits to us in working with a buyer’s agent – they did the homework on the up and coming suburbs when we were looking to buy. They actually recommended the suburb we ended up buying in and when it came time to sell the capital gain was just as they predicted. A nice win for us.
We engaged the same agent for our move out of the city. Again, they did their homework for us, and again they negotiated. This this time they managed to reduce the price $65k below asking, which I am 100% sure we could never have done on our own. This alone covered their fee many times over.
My wife and I have made the decision that we will never buy a home again without engaging a buyer’s agent.”
Simon Harris | Business Consultant | Bowral NSW