Many buyers are not aware of what a buyer’s real estate broker can and should do for them to ensure a flawless and safe transaction that keeps both buyer and seller out of the courts. As a home purchase is usually the largest financial transaction in a person’s life, there are some good reasons to have a broker on your side. But many people do not know what a buyer’s broker does, besides setting up and showing them homes. I’m here to tell you a part of what buyer’s brokers do for their clients to save them time, money and hassles.
Here’s why you should use the services of a buyer’s real estate broker when buying a home.
From the start, the real estate broker will work with you and his network of mortgage specialists to get you pre-approved for a mortgage, with that document in hand, you can feel confident that both you can afford a potential home and more importantly that the bank will ultimately be able to provide you with a mortgage when the offer is made. It will also help you to set a budget for the home you will purchase. An added bonus of the pre-approval letter is that in an intensely competitive seller’s market, many great deals receive multiple offers on them.
Having a solid pre-approval letter in hand, helps your broker to move your offer to the top of the list.
A good buyer’s broker will consult with you on your needs and wants in a home, to get a better picture of not just what you will like in a home, but what type of home will fit your lifestyle. The buyer’s broker will then begin the search on your behalf, oftentimes spending days and weeks (if not months), searching for the perfect home to show you.
In addition to sending you listings and keeping you updated of market trends, good brokers have personally toured many of the homes they are sending you to weed out the ones that will not be a good fit for you. Saving you time and effort.
“…good brokers have personally toured many of the homes they are sending you to weed out the ones that will not be a good fit for you.”
With a network of brokers that collaborate, many great homes are sold before they even become available on public Internet websites. If your broker hears about the perfect home, he can often get you in to see if before people just looking on the web.
When the broker has found you the perfect home that you want to put an offer on, the buyer’s broker will sit down with you to write up an offer. A very important step in the process of purchasing, the buyer’s broker will show you comparable homes that have sold recently in the neighborhood to help establish an offer price and to ensure you are not over-paying for the home.
The broker consults with you on your timeline and requirements to ensure that you won’t be homeless until your move-in date. This can involve bridge-loans, and deal creativity to ensure the buyer’s and seller’s timelines line up. The broker will also ensure the offer forms and paperwork are completed correctly without errors.
The next step is perhaps the most important and definitely one of the primary reasons to have a real estate broker work for you on your purchase. Brokers negotiate homes all the time and a skilled broker will often get you a better price on the home with more favorable conditions than you would negotiating with the seller’s broker directly. Another point to keep in mind is that the listing broker has a written mandate to protect his seller’s interests, not the buyer’s.
In addition in Quebec new rules regarding double representation make it so that the listing broker may not provide the buyer with comparable homes that sold, cannot advise the buyer on offer price or in effect represent the buyer’s best interests in the transaction if he has a signed sellers brokerage agreement.
While the selling broker must be fair to both parties, he has no written mandate to represent your interests, his goal is to get the highest and best price for his clients – the sellers. The buyer’s broker’s mandate is in a sense, the opposite, to collaborate with the listing broker but to represent your interests as the buyer. I have seen many homes sell much higher than they should have simply because the buyers were not skilled at negotiations and thought they would save money by going directly to the seller’s broker.
Good brokers are well-versed in issues relating to construction in his region such as pyrite, radon, vermiculite and others that can have a huge impact on the cost of owning a home. He will inform his buyers of issues that could impact them.
A buyer’s broker can also recommend a network of inspectors and if needed specialists in foundation, roofing, and construction to further evaluate a home to ensure his buyers are not in for a surprise after moving-in.
In completing the transaction, the buyer’s broker will ensure all deadlines are met and that all conditions in the promise to purchase are completed. He keeps a close eye on the transaction to ensure the proper paperwork, and legal documents are submitted to the notary who will prepare the act of sale where the buyer will legally sell the home to the buyers.
Finally, a great reason to work with a real estate broker, besides having a real estate professional working on your behalf, is the legal protection offered by all real estate brokers in Quebec. All brokers in Quebec have completed mandatory training and licensing exams in order to practice, you benefit from his knowledge, experience and training. In addition all brokers are covered by liability insurance up to $2,000,000.
“…all brokers are covered by liability insurance up to $2,000,000.”
This protection is in place for the buyer who signs a brokerage contract with a licensed broker and you benefit from that coverage.
While some inexperienced buyers feel that going at it alone will save them some money, the reality is that having a great real estate broker on your side will save you both time and money while avoiding legal problems, all while protecting your interests.
Ultimately a great real estate broker will find you the home of your dreams while avoiding many of the pitfalls that inexperienced buyers can fall victim to.
It is the biggest purchase of your lifetime, and I’d advise all buyers to meet with a good real estate broker before taking on this important transaction.
I’m Andrew Mitchell, Chartered Real Estate Broker, Owner and Agency Executive Officer of Mitchell Group Real Estate Agency. I consult and work for buyers, sellers and investors in Vaudreuil-Soulanges, the West Island and the Greater Montreal area. My goal is to provide you with useful, straightforward insights and relevant real estate market updates. Contact me with any questions. Follow me on Facebook.