Help us make the best buyer's agent interview list
December 6, 2011 6:01 AM Subscribe
Looking for a buyer's agent - should we interview people from multiple agencies?
My husband and I are looking to buy our first home in 3-4 months, and we've spent the last couple months talking to real estate agents at various open houses. Based on these discussions and friends' recommendations, we now have a list of the top three buyer's agent contenders to interview, but it turns out they all work in the same branch of the same agency. In our area there are two main agencies and a couple smaller agencies. Should we find a buyer's agent from the other main agency to interview as well, for the sake of seeing the big picture? Is there anything that we would miss out on by only interviewing different agents within the same branch of the same agency?
Bonus question: since none of these agents work solely as buyer's agents, how do we mitigate the risk of having them end up as a seller's agent for a house we may be interested in? They all specialize in the part of town we want to buy in, and I don't want to enter a dual agent situation.
My husband and I are looking to buy our first home in 3-4 months, and we've spent the last couple months talking to real estate agents at various open houses. Based on these discussions and friends' recommendations, we now have a list of the top three buyer's agent contenders to interview, but it turns out they all work in the same branch of the same agency. In our area there are two main agencies and a couple smaller agencies. Should we find a buyer's agent from the other main agency to interview as well, for the sake of seeing the big picture? Is there anything that we would miss out on by only interviewing different agents within the same branch of the same agency?
Bonus question: since none of these agents work solely as buyer's agents, how do we mitigate the risk of having them end up as a seller's agent for a house we may be interested in? They all specialize in the part of town we want to buy in, and I don't want to enter a dual agent situation.
since none of these agents work solely as buyer's agents, how do we mitigate the risk of having them end up as a seller's agent for a house we may be interested in?
If you're interested in a house that your agent is the seller's agent for, ask to use a different agent for that transaction (possibly from the same agency), but you have a good case that this represents a conflict of interest. When I was looking for a place, my agent point blank told me that he'd assign me another agent to negotiate the deal if I put a bid on one of the places he was listing.
posted by deanc at 6:29 AM on December 6, 2011
If you're interested in a house that your agent is the seller's agent for, ask to use a different agent for that transaction (possibly from the same agency), but you have a good case that this represents a conflict of interest. When I was looking for a place, my agent point blank told me that he'd assign me another agent to negotiate the deal if I put a bid on one of the places he was listing.
posted by deanc at 6:29 AM on December 6, 2011
The term you are looking for is "dual agency," when an agent represents both the seller and the buyer on a transaction. This is, as you have pointed out, not the best situation. I am an agent, and my broker explicitly forbids this.
Sometimes, brokers will be OK with "designated agency," when another agent, or perhaps the broker him/herself, would represent you in the transaction if you were to put an offer on a listing of your agent's.
If you are in a big city or metro area, there are many agents who work exclusively with buyers--they have no listings. Are you only looking at one brokerage?
Lastly, have you asked for referrals from your friends, family and co-workers for a buyer's agent? I don't discourage the interview process, but I think you'll have better success with finding someone with whom you will work well if you are able to hear about experiences with that agent from a former client.
Best of luck with your search!
posted by FergieBelle at 7:04 AM on December 6, 2011
Sometimes, brokers will be OK with "designated agency," when another agent, or perhaps the broker him/herself, would represent you in the transaction if you were to put an offer on a listing of your agent's.
If you are in a big city or metro area, there are many agents who work exclusively with buyers--they have no listings. Are you only looking at one brokerage?
Lastly, have you asked for referrals from your friends, family and co-workers for a buyer's agent? I don't discourage the interview process, but I think you'll have better success with finding someone with whom you will work well if you are able to hear about experiences with that agent from a former client.
Best of luck with your search!
posted by FergieBelle at 7:04 AM on December 6, 2011
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posted by whoaali at 6:27 AM on December 6, 2011 [1 favorite]