BETTER PROTECTION…

  • Only when you have "hired" a Realtor by signing a Buyer Agency Agreement, do you get the most protection and best service during your house hunt.
  • If you have not signed an agency agreement, no one actually has a fiduciary responsibility to protect your interests when you are looking at houses or discussing your bottom line.
  • In the State of North Carolina, you are a customer, not a client, up until you sign an agency agreement and, as such, are not entitled to the same protections and rights as a client in the eyes of the Real Estate Commission.
  • While you will be treated faily and with respect as customer, you are not getting full service representation or advice as a client would. 

BETTER SERVICE…

  • Agents are committed to the clients who are willing to commit to them. We tend not to waste time with customers who are unwilling to sign an agency agreement upfront or aren’t seriously interested in and movitvated about buying and/or selling.
  • Agents work strictly on a commission basis that is dependent on closing a transaction; up until that closing, we are really just “volunteering” our time – completely unpaid and at our own expense– with the expectation that it will lead to a closing.
  • FACT: Agents work harder for clients than they do for customers.
  • Once you have signed an agency agreement, your agent has a legal – and, ideally, moral – vested interest in helping you find, negotiate, repair, and close on the house of your dreams.

BETTER EXPERIENCE…

  • Once you have chosen an agent, you don’t have to worry about calling multiple people to get into houses and think about what you shouldn’t say in front of “the other agent.”
  • Signing agency with your Realtor means exploring and discussing your needs and goals openly with only one person, whose job it is to fully understand and represent your interests to the best of her ability.
  • Your agent will be your information, contact, and referral resource who helps you configure the best team of service providers to get you through to closing and help you maintain and improve your new home.

REDUCED RISK...

  • An agency agreement is not a contract, but an agreement to work together toward a defined goal for a set period of time. In the event things do not work out with an agent, you can always terminate your agency agreement and find another agent. It’s that simple.
  • If you really aren’t sure about signing with an agent, just sign a “one day agency agreement” in which you agree to “try each other out” for just a day while you are looking a homes. In signing it, you are both committing to be honest, fair, and respectful of the other person’s time and resources for just one day, but not committed to a full length agreement. At least this way, you both have a measure of protection for that day and way of deciding if an ongoing relationship is right for you both.

If you are even remotely serious about looking for a home, you should be signing an agency agreement immediately!  Call or email me with any questions you may have.