Has anyone used a buyer’s agent to purchase property? I’d love to hear your experiences and thoughts - good or bad - for a story I’m working on.
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I find that some agents are more interested in the resulting commission they will receive than they are in either the buyer or seller. When you request to sell they take advertising costs (some upfront) in addition to their commission. However some agents will refund the advertising costs if they sell the property. Check with them first before signing.
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We used a BA in 2013 to buy an investment in Perth. Off the cuff I would say, expensive but overall a positive experience & result. While the fee could be seen as hefty we would not have acquired the property we did nor at the price we did without the Agent. In real terms the service didn’t cost us since I believe the saving in price was at least if not more than the Agent’s fee.
We also acquired a property which ticked all the boxes of the criteria we were seeking.
Having said all that with an investment the success is measured in net gains & we haven’t seen that to date 3 years down the track. Though that is almost certainly a consequence of the WA & Perth markets overall rather than our property specifically. I still do believe the acquired property will pay over the longer term.
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I used a buyer’s agent a few years ago, and have had experiences on behalf of clients with a number more. I had a very good experience and whilst they weren’t able to add too much with property searching, their assistance with property evaluation, price expectation and value, and dealing with selling agents was fantastic.
The thing I usually tell my friends is that selling agents sell property all the time, whereas buyers very rarely buy, so there is a huge imbalance in expertise and knowledge. A good buyers agent evens that up and cuts through a lot of the BS.
I did shop around though before choosing my buyer’s agent and I met with and got proposals from a number of buyer’s agents who I did not feel comfortable with and who it was clear were only in it for their own gains.
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I used a buyer’s agent once when my mum was looking for a place and didn’t want to bid at auction in a heated Melbourne real estate market. The agent was friendly and helpful and did bid for us at the auction but the price was so way above what we could pay it ultimately didn’t help us. We then just looked for places that didn’t go for auction which limited our choices but we did get a place in the end.
The buyer’s agent was a last option as we were so stressed from everything else we were dealing with after my dad dying.
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