What Buyer's Agents Do for You

Your buyer's agent will have a vast knowledge of the current real estate market for the area, which will include neighborhood amenities and conditions, the law, zoning issues, price trends, negotiations, taxes, financing, and insurance.

Once you meet with the buyer's agent, he/she will generally help you to determine what your needs and wants are when it comes to finding you a home and a neighborhood.

The agent will aid you in learning about what you can afford, setting a budget, give you some insight on the current conditions of the market, and explain to you what you should expect while shopping for a home.

In addition, he/she will help you find a suitable level of financing. During the shopping-for-a-home period, you will probably meet with your agent for tours of homes that you might be interested in.

They will give your insight into the floor plans, the pertinent selling points of the home, and the overall crime rate of that particular neighborhood. They will also give you the rundown for cultural activities, work centers, shopping centers, and schools that are close by.

Your agent is responsible for ensuring that inspections of the homes are complete, as well as the disclosures therein.

They are also in charge of ensuring that coordination and completion is done through the roof inspector, attorneys, lenders, and all other professionals who are involved with the purchase of the home.

If bargains need to be made over the price, you will not have to negotiate a thing. Your buyer's agent will do all of that for you along with signing the final closing documents.

They will be present whenever you need to go through and sign any document so as to ensure that you are safe.

Dual Agencies - The Basics

Dual agencies occur when a buyer is being represented by a brokerage firm that controls the listing. Once an agent represents both the seller and the buyer within the same transaction, the situation is known as dual agencies.

In multiple states, this is illegal because of the conflict of interest that can arise in regard to the broker.

All agents hold the same responsibility, which is to inform their clients of all potential risks that may arise due to conflicts of interest. Legally, agents are not allowed to work on both sides of any transaction without consent from the clients.

For example, if you are selling your home, and you do not want an agent to be working with the buyer, it's your right to say so in the listing agreement.

This is also true for the buyers. A buyer can get out of a buyer's agency agreement, but only if their agent has a listing in which the buyer is interested in.

When it comes to dual agencies, there are actually quite a few pros for the seller, and they are as follows:

•   Trust has already been gained with your listing agent, so representation for the buyer has already been established.
•   Your agent brought you the buyer knowing that you are selling, even if your property has not yet hit the market.
•   Your listing agent will already have covered and researched your neighborhood's market to gain buyer inquiries, which means that your agent will be working from all sides of the deal to sell your house faster and with more incentive.
•   Your agent works together with corporate relocation buyers who are in need of finding a house quickly, and they will ensure that it's your house that is bought.

However, there are some cons when it comes to dual agencies, and they are listed below:

·         
You cannot be advised by your agent as thoroughly as you'd probably like when he or she has to act as a dual agent, because of the fast that impartial facilitation is indeed required.

·       
  Your listing agent is not allowed to negotiate the best or highest price for you if you are also negotiating both best and lowest terms for the buyer.

·        
 Earning a full commission, if the opportunity arises, may tempt the agent to coerce a deal which you might not accept otherwise.

·       
  Your agent may inhibit all access to your listing through buyers with agents.

To avoid any surprises, or anything going wrong in general when going with dual agencies, always ensure that you properly represent and clarify your full relationship with your agent.

You can do this by using an exclusive buyer agency agreement, or a listing agreement. Even with dual agency, one cannot have too many surprises once everything is outlined there cannot be any surprises.