Betsy A.
Churgai, broker
Island
Associates
Smart Money: A Personal Shopper for
Your Dream House
by Pam Black
"When Sallye and Jim Ryan wanted to move from their Tampa
apartment to a three-bedroom home this spring, the busy couple used a
buyer broker, Beth Tansey, to help. Within a week, they had bid
on the house they now own. Sallye liked being able to delegate
the house-hunting. "With both my husband and me working, it was a
lot easier," she says. "I don't think I would have found this
house that I really love without her. There are so many homes for
sale here, I would probably still be looking."
"Because Tansey is a buyer broker, who represents the home buyer's
interests, the Ryan's trusted her to find the best deal on a house that
suited their needs. By contrast, a traditional real estate broker
is legally bound to work for the seller who pays the commission and
therefore may be more intent on selling listed homes than finding your
dream house. Even Realtors who don't hold the listing on a given
house act as subagents to the seller. So unless a broker says
that he or she is working for you -- brokers are now legally obliged to
disclose who they represent -- you can assume the broker is working for
the seller."
"Because these brokers are obliged to get buyers the best deal
possible, they approach houses with a critical eye for apparent
flaws. You'll still need an inspector to uncover hidden defects,
however." "A well-trained, experienced buyer broker is a great
asset," says Peter Miller, author of How to Sell Your Home in Any
Market ($12, Harper Perennial) and other real estate guides. "You
won't do any worse, and you may do a lot better."
"Usually, the buyer broker splits the sales commission with the
seller's agent, just as a subagent who didn't have the listing would
with the broker who did. So the fee still comes out of the sale
price. Some people might assume that buyers' agents have an
incentive to keep the price high. But again, the broker must get
you the best deal. "In my experience, all of them do," says
Stephen Brobeck, executive director of the Consumer Federation of
America"