Why You Need a Buyer's Agent to Buy Your Home

Your first step in looking for a new home in the Chicago North Shore suburbs is most likely online.  You have spent weeks or months pouring over new listings and watching older ones as they go under contract and sell.  You are now a knowledgeable buyer and probably have narrowed your range down to the exact neighborhoods in which you would like to live.

Now what?

Maybe you received  a referral for a good buyer's agent, or maybe you met someone at an open house that you connected with.  However you got there, it's time to get serious about buying a home in Wilmette, Winnetka, Glencoe or perhaps Kenilworth.  

Why did I mention buyer's agent?  Because a buyer's agent is, when working with you to help you buy a home, working only on your behalf.   If you call the listing agent of a particular home that caught your eye, that agent would become a "dual" agent - working on your and the seller's behalf.  And that's a tough position to be in - trying to get the highest price for the seller and the lowest price for the buyer.  It would seem impossible.

It's not impossible but it does mean walking a fine line.  And you, as the buyer, may end up with the fuzzy end of the stick.  Buyers should understand that they will not "get a better deal" if they work with the listing agent.  This is urban myth.

Let me explain with a recent example.  Several years ago a buyer called me and requested information about a house she had found online.  I met with her and showed her the home and many others as well.  She decided she wanted to bid on that first house which was listed for $765,000.  She sheepishly told me that she would be offering a very low price to start: $690,000.   I, however, knew the house to be overpriced and told her that she would, in fact, buy the house for closer to $690,000.  

We actually bid much lower and ended up buying the house for $685,000!  Now imagine for a moment if that conversation had occurred with the listing agent of that property.  That agent would have gleefully taken the $690,000 bid and run with it, and my buyer would probably have ended up paying closer to $725,000 for the house.

What's a listing agent to do?  They represent the seller but are supposed to represent you as well.  I can't imagine a listing agent anywhere that would have sat that buyer down and said not to offer that much on the property.  It's a real conundrum and you don't want to find yourself in the middle of it.

A good buyer's agent that represents your interests is the first and foremost thing you should look for in a real estate agent.  That agent should be the local expert - not the agent you used in the city to sell your condo or your mother's cousin who offered to help you.  It's an huge purchase, one that you will be paying for for a long time.  Why not do it right from the very beginning?