Who Does Your Agent Work For ?

Many of my readers as well as my colleagues know that I believe in open houses, holding not only my own but for other agents in my office as well.  During these open houses I meet many buyers both whom have agents and ones that do not, and some that don't actually know what they have !

I've written many blogs explaining how and why it is in my opinion all buyers should use a buyers agent and that this relationship is created by a conversation not by assumption.  Many buyers have attended my open house and than come back with their agent but I can see my the representation that they are actually working as a brokers agent.  Often times buyers assume if an agent that takes you into a listing other than their own that they will be representing the buyer but this is not always the case.  

Today's blog I want to focus not on the legal state terms used to decide or explain representation but how the buyer has all of the control of their representation but aren't aware of it.  

When Attending Open Houses, Hosted By Another Agent Who Do They Represent ? 

Just because this agent is not the listing agent does not mean they automatically represent the buyer.  The action of holding an open house other than your own does not make you a free agent, because listings are actually owned by a company rather than agent therefore the representation is Brokers Agent.  This simply means they will still be working for the seller, when attending an open house when you have no representation I say listen more and talk less.   

If your interested in that home and want to put in an offer, the brokers agent can present the offer for  you but be careful of the information you give away. Disclosure dictates that any information pertaining to the sale must be passed along to the seller, so simply not giving away too much information is in your best interest.  

Can That Agent Represent You As A Buyers Agent On Another Listing ?

Absolutely but this shouldn't be assumed, you should call the agent and express interest in meeting with them to discuss what they do when working as a buyers agent, their commission, and most importantly what will they do for you.  

Just like when we take listings our terms and marketing plan are very important so is our plan for our buyers.  There are specific things a buyers agent should be expected to do like find you listings to view, attend private showings of these listings, help you find a reputatable mortgage broker.  These things in my opinion are truly the most important parts of having a buyers agent. 

I Have A Buyers Agent, But They Aren't Doing Anything ! 

Well the great part of taking the time and having a buyer broker means there should be a document stating what they agreed to do.  This also means they will have to either start doing there job or you can find another agent.  The best way to make sure this doesn't happen is give it a test run sign a short contract say 2 weeks to try it out, if it's a good fit and if not simply have the awkward conversation.

Just like with any relationship there are just some that don't work out, you may not mesh well with your agent.  Considering that this is a huge decision and investment I always say find one that is a good fit.  I have worked with a large amount of buyers and sellers, and can admit that there were a few of both over the years that I did not work with because we just weren't the right fit for each other.

In many cases where I see buyers agents not doing what is expected of them is because the assumption was that they were using a buyers agent, and the reality was they had a brokers agent.  The way we can see this is when your agent schedules an appointment they will need to inform our office of who they represent.  I would say in 95% of the cases the dis-pleased buyer was working with a brokers agent without being aware.

Taking the time to have the conversation will outline what you expect of your agent than have it documented, this way all parties are aware of what is expected from one another.  Almost all offices have a buyer broker agreement available, mine is available on my website for PDF Download.  I recommend looking it over and discussing each of the important points with a few different agents and than choosing one that you would like to go see a few homes before committing to a long term contract with them.