How Our Buyer’s Agent Saved us Money.



July 5, 2010Does working with an experienced buyer’s agent pay off? For us it did.  Our agent’s experience and knowledge steered us away from buying a home that was not at a good value. We also saw the negative impact that the seller’s agent may have had on the seller. Timely responses are critical. We had made an offer on a home that was listed for $220,000 of $205,000.  The seller’s agent did...

What Are Buyer Agent Responsibilities?



July 2, 2010In Colorado, we have an Exclusive Right-to-Buy Contract approved by the Colorado Real Estate Commission that defines the basic buyer agent responsibilities.  In other words, this document was not written by your agent and it is a legal contract.    In general, the buyer agent is responsible for helping you and protecting your interests from house hunting to closing day.  Here are the...

Top Four Things You Should Know About Your Buyers Contract



June 30, 2010When you are buying a home, you will sign several contracts.   If you are working with a buyer’s agent, you will sign a buyer agency agreement.  When you have found a home you would like to buy, you will sign a buyers contract, or contract to buy and sell real estate. 1.   Understand the finances set in your buyers contract. Your buyers contract will define your purchase price and terms...

Buyer Closing Costs: The Basics



June 23, 2010What are buyer closing costs? Another term I didn’t know before beginning our home search was “closing costs.” Closing costs means more money that you have to scrounge up to buy a home on top of the down payment.   This term will come up when you are looking for a loan or making an offer on a home.   There are several decisions you can make regarding how you pay your closing...

Where Do You Want To Live?



June 21, 2010If you were given a choice of where you wanted to live, taking out relocation for job or family situations, where would it be?  In the State of Colorado, there are numerous areas, all different in some way or another.  You could live on the Eastern Plains, the Front Range, the Grand Mesa area, the Northern area and even Metropolitan Denver.  Just to name a few. Within all of these areas are...

The Million Dollar Question: Who Pays Buyer’s Agent?



June 9, 2010Please see our page "How Colorado Buyers Agents get Paid" for the latest 2024 changes as a result of the $418M NAR settlement, set to take effect in mid July, 2024 The way your buyer agent will be paid is included in your buyer’s agent agreement.    These can be: 1)     A commission paid at closing to the buyer's agent based on the total sales price of the...

What is the difference between an Exclusive Buyer’s Agent and a traditional Real Estate Agent?



May 5, 2010The difference between an Exclusive Buyer’s Agent and a traditional Real Estate Agent is that buyer's agent works only for people that are buying houses, while Real Estate Agents work for people that are selling houses and buying houses. Why does it matter? My favorite analogy that I heard was: if you get sued, are you going to hire the same lawyer representing the person suing you? It’s...