Choosing the right Buyer’s Advocate to help you buy your next property is important. Everyone you meet with is going to have different experience, relationships and knowledge – how do you choose the right buyer’s advocate for you?
What is a Buyer’s Advocate?
A buyer’s advocate (also known as a buyer’s agent) is your representative throughout the property buying process. They can assist you with:
- Identifying what you want in a property and initial consultation
- property search both on and off-market,
- due diligence,
- organisation of building & pest inspections,
- inspection of the property for you, and then with you if it’s a strong buy
- assessment of reports,
- bidding at auction and/or negotiations on your behalf,
- all post sale requirements,
- where the property is an investment Entourage is able to advise on leasing the property as well.
Why a Buyer’s Advocate Melbourne?
A buyer’s advocate helps level the playing field in your favour. Real estate agents sell property and negotiate with buyers every day and so if you’re only buying property once every five or ten years it’s easy to feel overwhelmed when it comes to inspections and negotiations. A property buyer’s advocate can do a lot of the heavy lifting for you – from trawling through listings and uncovering off-market gems through to inspections and negotiations.
Not only do they save you time, but they also save you money. Whether it’s through negotiating a great price or helping you find a property that’s going to experience strong capital growth over the ensuing years.
It’s easy to buy a good property, but it takes experience, expertise and time to buy great property.
Should I work with a buyers advocate or real estate agent?
As a buyer, it’s a bit of a challenge to work solely with a real estate agent. The main challenge being that they don’t work for the buyer. There are two major differences between a real estate agent and a buyer’s advocate :
- A real estate agent sells the property and looks after the interests of the vendor, whereas a buyer’s advocate acts in the interests of the buyer.
- Second, a real estate agent is only able to show you properties they have on their books and they are contracted to sell, whereas a buyer’s advocate scours the listings of every agency in your preferred marketplace(s) to find the right property, at the right price.
Experienced and hard-working buyer’s agents also have a range of off-market properties at their fingertips, developed through enquiries and relationships they’ve developed over the years.
Should my Buyer’s Advocate be licensed?
Yes. Though Buyer’s Advocacy is not heavily regulated your Buyer’s Advocate should be licensed. Someone who runs a Buyer’s advocacy business needs to have their full real estate agent’s licence and an advocate working in a business needs to hold their agents rep.
How to choose a Buyer’s Advocate
To become a Buyer’s Advocate, you must complete your Agent’s Rep as a minimum standard as mentioned above. When looking to work with someone we would highly recommend the individual has some experience as a valuer or in valuations, or has a legal/conveyancing or real estate background. Whether that be as an agent, developer, builder, etc. someone who understands the intricacies of property.
Often many Buyer’s Advocates come from the real estate industry and previously worked in sales or similar. Others may come from a background valuing property and possess a Certified Practicing Valuer (CPV) qualification.
Some questions to consider asking your Buyer’s Advocate
- How long have you worked in the real estate industry?
- How long have you worked as a Buyer’s Advocate?
- What relevant industry qualifications do you possess?
- Have you got your real estate agents licence or rep?
If they are new to the industry, they may have a mentor or be working with someone experienced – make sure you understand their background and experience before you sign on with them.