The first thing a Realtor should do at their first substantial meeting with you is discuss representation. We are primarily an Agency that represents Sellers as Clients and Buyers as Customers.
The main difference is confidentiality. It is our duty to provide that aspect of service to our Seller Clients only. All other aspects of our service is the same for both Clients and Customers.
Most Buyers decide to work with us as customers once they understand the full range of services that we can provide. They are free to change their mind at anytime and hire a Buyer Broker if they feel the need. Representation and compensation are two separate issues. We offer buyer brokers the same commission split as agents who work with us to represent the seller unless our Buyer Customer looks at the property with us first and then decides on buyer broker representation. The Buyer Broker is then compensated generously but not fully on the commission split. You should make your Buyer Broker aware of any work that has already been done by our agency so that we can discuss their compensation with them before hiring one. Also be sure and understand the full commitment you will be making with the buyer broker. There are open and exclusive buyer broker agreements and the length of time you sign up for is an important issue.
It is our experience that because we have the highest volume of inventory in our area it is wise not to switch back and forth with representation.
How Do Our Buyer Customers Benefit?
We work extremely hard to keep our buyers informed of all new listings. It can take up to 48 hours to get a new listing on MLS and our buyers know of new listings as soon as they are listed.
Buyers are interested in the best information about the market available and they want to be kept up to date on market activity. If you are a Buyer Customer we will educate you on the general market and provide you with MLS statistics. We make sure that you do not reveal to us what your top dollar is for the property. We are allowed to suggest, with our Sellers permission, what terms they are looking for such as deposit amounts, contingencies and probable closing dates. Our well educated Buyer Customers have no trouble assessing the market once they have been out with our seasoned professionals and our close contact with our sellers and other agencies that we may co-broker with allow us to create an unusually high degree of trust between all parties that brings about successful closing for both buyers and sellers.
Do We Ever Buyer Broker?
Yes there are individual instances when buyer brokering is appropriate for our Agency.
Sometimes a buyer calls about a specific property that is not listed or is for sale by owner and they are only interested in that one property. We are more than happy to treat the buyer as a client in those situations. The Commercial Division of our company often engages in buyer brokering as the number of commercial listings is more limited than residential listings.
More information for real estate buyers
We believe that success with our buyer customers comes from the following:
- There is always a professional Realtor on the phone with you every time you call our office.
- All agents have personal e-mail, cell phones and voice mail for total accessibility.
- We have a full time staff of multiple professional Realtors each of whom can take the time necessary to introduce you to the area, answer your questions on schools, community services, local and state taxes and any specific areas of concern that you might have such as a particular athletic program that one of your children may be interested in. We often take buyers that are considering relocating here with a new employer on a tour of the Greater Bennington or Manchester area. In those cases it is more important for you to learn about the area than trying to sell you a house. If we can convey to you how special our area is the house buying will come later!
- Our office is open every Saturday and we have a weekend agent on duty to make sure nobody falls through a crack and doesn't get service when needed, even at the last moment. Visiting our Open Houses on Saturdays & Sundays is a quick and easy way to learn more about our market.
So to sum it up, as soon as we have our first meeting we will ask you to sign a disclosure statement acknowledging that we represent the seller as a client and the buyer as a customer. We also assure you that at anytime you are uncomfortable with that arrangement we can refer you to another reputable agency for buyer brokering or you can make that arrangement yourself. Our job is to make you as comfortable as possible and help you find the property you are searching for.