Coastal Living Chronicles: Insights from a Saint Simons Island Realtor

Home buyers should always have their own agent . Buyer agents work to negotiate the best terms and price for the buyer. Best of all, the buyer agent’s services are free to the buyer.  Most people think they have to pay a sales commission. The truth is this: only the seller pays the commission . Whether a buyer uses an agent or not, the SELLER still pays the commission. The only person who wins when buyers are not represented is the listing agent . Most buyer agents will have their clients sign an agency agreement, an Exclusive Buyer Agency Agreement. It outlines their services, how they are compensated, and how the two parties will work together. Remember, you wouldn’t hire your spouse’s attorney to represent you in your divorce. The same goes for real estate. Why use the seller’s agent to negotiate your best interest? There is an inherent conflict of interest. The home buying process is stressful enough without worrying about who you can and cannot trust. Your buyer’s agent is

Ask anyone who’s been in real estate for a while they’ll tell you: “We spend a bunch of time working with you on selling your home, spend money to market the home, host open houses and show the home to prospective buyers, finally getting an offer in writing that everyone is happy with and putting the home under contract – only to discover the buyer can’t qualify for a mortgage.  That wastes and agent’s time, wastes your time and can cost valuable time that the home is off the market. We can protect your interests by asking for a pre-approval or at least a pre-qualification letter with any offer submitted on your home.  This minimizes the chance that we’ll be working with an unqualified buyer.      Note that there is a difference between being pre-qualified and being pre-approved. Someone who is pre-qualified has not actually put in a formal loan application. The borrower has simply stated his or her assets and income to the lender, and they’ve probably pulled a credit bureau repo