A buyer’s advocate can make a huge difference to your first home buying journey; but unlike many other professionals you might engage along the way, an advocate charges what can seem like a pretty hefty fee. They charge more than just money for their services, however- they are also skilled in negotiating on behalf of buyers and sellers during the home purchase process.
What is a buyer’s advocate?
A buyers’ advocate is an experienced property professional that helps you buy a home. Many people assume they are working on your behalf when you’re meeting with the selling agent, but in reality this is not true. The selling agent represents the vendor, who pays them to list their house so it can be sold at as high a price as possible for them. When you inspect or bid on properties, there’s nobody else besides yourself except if someone uses an advocate (an experienced property professional).
How does a buyer’s advocate save me money?
Buyer’s advocates can save you money as a first home buyer in a number of ways:
Off market properties
First, buyers’ advocates often have access to properties that aren’t readily available for sale to the public. This is through their network of real estate agents and even vendors themselves. Sometimes a vendor will feel out the market without actually launching a full sales campaign, and often deals can be done before this property even hits your favourite listing website. It’s like finding it first.You’ll save substantial amounts of money by avoiding competition among other buyers with this strategy.
Bidding support
A vast number of properties are sold by auction in Australia. What this means is your love for the property is abundantly clear to everyone who wants it – and vice versa. The high volume of interest combined with a competitive environment often drives up prices, which can be stressful! An experienced buyer’s advocate will secure your home without any emotional investment from you at all.
Expertise
Buying a property is an emotionally charged process for many first time buyers. When we’re looking at our options, our minds can get clouded with ideas of what a dinner party could look like in the kitchen or where you’d place your perfect velvet green couch with a gold frame and how dreamy the bathroom lighting would be. An advocate helps us see how much is reasonable to pay when purchasing a property and explore whether it’s worth paying over that amount to make sure we are getting something more than just “financial smarts”.
What happens if a buyer’s advocate doesn’t find me a property?
A buyer’s advocate will have their own systems in place for if this happens. If they can’t find a client with what they’re looking for, the final payment is not due and there’s no obligation to pay.
Conclusion
A property buyer’s advocate can be a valuable resource in the home-buying process. He or she was there to help you get the best deal on your new home. A buyers advocate can save you money by finding you properties that the other agents in the area don’t know about. This means that you will have the most options when it comes to choosing your home.
