Dual agency definition: Occurs when the same brokerage represents both the buyer and the seller under written agreement. This means that if you have a buyers agreement with a real estate agent and find a home you are interested in that is under the same brokerage that your agent works for, another agent (or the same agent) within the same office can represent the seller.
A buyers agreement…that sounds pretty legal right?
Think again. Dual agency can be devastating to a buyer in certain situations. A company that allows dual agency may let on that they work as a dual agency but actually conduct business more closely to a single agency. In small companies, phone calls with the buyer regarding pricing and terms may be overheard or faxes accidentally viewed. Unintentionally, an agent may be talking about a buyer in the office and be overheard by the sellers agent. This can give the sellers agent information that may benefit the seller. A sellers agent’s fiduciary responsibility is to the seller and they must disclose any information they have that can help the seller.
By using a dual agency, buyers are giving up their right to have complete 100% buyer representation and loyalty from their real estate agent since the agent (agency) is representing the opposite side of the transaction as well. If you are using a dual agency, be careful with the information you divulge to your agent as this could be intentionally or unintentionally used in the real estate transaction.
The only way to completely avoid this issue is to use an Exclusive Buyers Agent like a Colorado Exclusive Buyers Agent. There are never any listings within the entire office of Colorado exclusive buyers agencies.
If you are ready to buy a home remember that you have the right to have complete buyer representation and an agent whose fiduciary responsibilities are to you and only you.
To get a FREE consultation with a Colorado Exclusive Buyers Agent in your area click here!
Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!
The big, white, fluffy powder (also known as pow-pow) is a big reason ski and snowboard addicts look to move to Colorado. When a few ski areas are only an hour and a half drive from the big city of Denver, what winter sports enthusiast wouldn’t want to live here?
Hit the slopes on your day off!
The metropolis city of Denver is the base of many top companies, colleges, and sports teams. The adversity of Colorado is so great that many different types of people feel lucky to call it home, not to mention the places to play aren’t too shabby either!
One big drive to live and work in Colorado are the famous ski areas. It is hard to match the snow quality of Colorado. Winter Park, Breckenridge, Loveland, Keystone, and Aspen are all top choices for a Denverite looking to take a daytrip to ski or snowboard. Many people I know actually started out with tourist jobs in these places to get them through college and found a deep love for the mountains of Colorado that could not be matched. They decided to make living in Colorado their dream after finishing school…
and can now be full time ski bums…
While each of these ski areas are high quality, the living culture that surrounds each of them are very different. If you are looking to buy a home near a ski area, it would be wise to check out the local towns and income averages to make sure the town would coincide with your wants and needs in a new home.
For instance, the average income that surrounds Winter Park is $60,500 according to city-data, and the average price of a home in this area is $360,245. This may not be affordable for everyone. But the good thing about Colorado is that there are so many amazing ski areas spread throughout the mountains, that it is easy to live within driving distance of many of them and still find an affordable city to live in.
Golden, Colorado has an average income of $ 56,544 and is only a mere 45 minutes to an hour from the closest ski area. Not only is it close to ski areas, it is also not a long drive from the city of Denver, where it may be easier to find employment. The average price of a home in Golden is a little more realistic for the average working person at $262, 130.
Colorful Colorado!
Talking with a Colorado Exclusive Buyers Agent would be a good place to start if you are considering moving to Colorado. These agents have a wealth of knowledge about the local economy, attractions, housing market, and local resources for insurance and financing. They are also highly skilled at negotiating the best deal for the buyer during closing and provide 100% buyer representation throughout the process of buying a home.
So all you snow bunnies, granolas, and business professionals make sure you consider working with a Colorado Exclusive Buyer Agent to find your dream place to work and play in Colorado!
To find out more about a local Colorado Exclusive Buyers Agent in your area, click here!
I read a blog by Lenn Harley describing experienced buyer’s agent’s strategy to address home repairs. An experienced agent knows when a repair should be included in the Contract of Sale, or when it should be addressed after the Contract has been accepted during the Inspection Resolution period.
This is just another important reason to work with an experienced agent, and equally important, that that person is a buyer’s agent, not a seller’s agent.
The importance of experience:
In every profession, there are things that you learn along the way. You might make a mistake the first time around, then the next time be armed with knowledge about a better way to accomplish the task.
In this example, the buyer’s agent described the “aha” moment of realizing that certain repairs should not be included in the Contract of Sale. As a buyer, you don’t want to be an agent’s “aha moment.” You want to take advantage of an agent that has already had their “aha” moments, and can apply that knowledge to your situation.
The Colorado Exclusive Buyer’s Agent that we worked with when we purchased our home is a perfect example. He had previously worked in construction, so he literally knows homes inside and out. He had also been an exclusive buyers agent for over twenty years, so had “ironed out” all of the “aha moments” and knew the time and the place to address each of the repairs. The result? All of the repairs that we wanted fixed by the seller were fixed.
The importance of a buyer’s agent:
Another key point in requesting repairs, it is sort of like building a case with supporting evidence. If there are holes in the evidence, that gives the seller a position and a way to avoid paying for them.
For example, when we got our home inspected, our exclusive buyer’s agent recommended a sewer inspection as well. During the inspection, the technician noticed what looked like a potential leak and pointed it out to us. In the report, the potential leak was described as a “wide joint.” He did not feel comfortable using the language that it was in fact a leak, because he didn’t necessarily have the evidence to support that. From our perspective, we certainly do not want a “potential leak” lurking in our sewer- what a truly disgusting problem that could be, not to mention unsanitary and expensive.
We were disappointed in the language because it does not make as strong of a case for us. But, the fact is, it was a valid concern, and our agent had the experience to handle the situation in the right manor that resulted in the seller paying for the repair. Of course, I need to credit the seller for being incredibly reasonable and gracious, and made the process very smooth for us.
I wonder, though, if we had worked with an agent that represented the seller, would they have used the “wide joint” language to help the seller or the buyer?
We just recently had a house guest who is a very dear friend of the family, who is in his fourth year of medical school. We were talking about the term “gestalt.”
According to Wikipedia is the concept that “The whole is greater than the sum of the parts.” It is the idea that a few lines and curves can be recognized as a figure. For example, a few lines and a circle could be recognized as a “stick figure.” The sum of the lines and curves is greater than its parts.
In medicine, it is used to describe the benefit of experience. A doctor that has been around for a while can look at a patient and immediately tell what is wrong. Or, maybe a better example is that if you showed me and a doctor an x-ray, I would see blotches of black, white and gray. The doctor could see a broken bone, etc.
An experienced exclusive buyers agent sees more than just a house.
I think this applies well to Real Estate. Gestalt is something that comes with experience, and can be earned in no other way. It is an enormous benefit to working with an EBA that has years of experience, looking at hundreds of homes, especially within a specialized area. With experience, you can see patterns. With experience, you can make useful comparisons. With experience, you can spot unusual finds.
This is the reason that a first time home buyer and an experienced exclusive buyers agent could both walk into a house and the first timer would see… a house, and the EBA would see the best deal on the market. That happened to me during my home search.
The very first home that we saw on our search, our agent explained to us that this was an incredible deal. This being the first home, I didn’t really know whether or not to trust my agent. I had nothing to compare it to. I had no idea how much house my budget could buy, and whether or not this was on the low or high end.
Turns out, it was a great deal. The next 20 homes we looked at were nothing in comparison to that home. At that point, we learned to trust our agent, and we had a solid idea of what our money could buy us.
Experience is one of the greatest assets of an exclusive buyers agent.
With experience, and “gestalt,” an exclusive buyers agent provides one of the greatest benefits of all to a home buyer.
They can use this experience to point out unusually good investments for your price range in the neighborhood you are looking in.
I had such a great experience working with our exclusive buyers agent that I take for granted that anyone buying a home would make the same decision and work with an agent.
But I forget that there was a time that I considered, even temporarily, that I might want to just “save money” by buying a house without an agent. It makes me smile and laugh at myself to think about that. After going through the process, I am grateful that I had the sense to work with an agent. Mark my words; I would never, ever, ever buy a house without working with an agent that I trusted. I would also always recommend others to work with an exclusive buyer’s agent.
Working with an exclusive buyers agent led to my Dream Home.
I saved time, money, frustration, and my sanity by working with an exclusive buyer’s agent. I also love the house I live in, and my neighborhood. We got a great rate on our loan, a great deal on our house, and I have no regrets about the process.
It certainly was a positive experience.
Buying a home is not a “Do It Yourself” Project.
There are many things that people can, and maybe even should do themselves. Even with no experience. In many cases, “Do It Yourself” projects can save money, and if you are dedicated and don’t get frustrated to easily, doesn’t require losing quality.
For example, and don’t laugh, but for the first time in my life I baked a pie from scratch. This is a huge milestone for me on my road to being a “stay at home mom” after leaving my “career.” It was fun, delicious, and had no mystery ingredients. But, the kitchen was covered in flour, some pepper accidentally made its way into the crust, but overall, no harm done. It is just a pie after all.
These are the types of Do It Yourself that I believe in: homemade pies, possibly some laminate. These are within the “Do It Yourself” cut off point. But when the stakes are high, its best left to the professionals. I firmly believe that the home buying process is one of those things. There is too much at stake, and a professional will save money.
Please see the chart my (half joking) attempt to describe the Do It Yourself Cut Off Point. Everyone has one. Where is yours?
