3 THINGS TO LOOK FOR IN A BUYER AGENT
As Broker of Record, I’m the guy that’s ultimately responsible for any deal our team puts together. That responsibility can be a little heavy at times.
From day one, ten years ago when we opened the door to our new brokerage, we made a commitment to providing what we think is some of the best training in the industry. It was our way of balancing the risk and making sure our clients had the best possible real estate experience.
Currently there are 78,000 real estate salespeople and brokers licensed to practice in the province of Ontario. 67% (52,000) of those licensees are, you guessed it, in the GTA.
Given Guelph’s proximity to the GTA, it’s no surprise that 14% of the buyers in our local market are represented by Realtors from the GTA.
Not all real estate brokerages are the same. They range from small operations, often a broker and just a few people, all the way to mega offices with hundreds of agents under one roof (real or virtual). I’ll come back to this.
When a person is licensed by the province to sell real estate, that means they have gone through several courses and months of online and in-class instruction. New agents are taught the rules that govern real estate in Ontario, and are taught how to draft an offer.
There is a lot of training that goes into the actual crafting of an offer. I use the term craft because an Agreement of Purchase and Sale is not something that can be “cut and pasted” together. As a Broker, I’ve seen plenty of these Agreements come across my desk that are obvious “cut and paste” efforts without a lot of thought on how this document is going to be interpreted.
In our brokerage, our new agents are mentored by senior team members and they spend a lot of time practicing creating offers. They’re given scenarios, and we expect to see the right clauses used and that they can demonstrate the ability to create clauses specific to the situation being negotiated.
Not every agent receives this kind of training – and it shows.
Frequently I have team members calling me asking how to interpret the meaning of a clause or what to do about a clause that has no relevance to the property in question. In a normal one-offer negotiation, we’d take the time to suggest corrections or point out the errors the other agent has created. However, when dealing with multiple offers in a fast-paced market like today, those poorly created offers very quickly fall to the bottom of the consideration pile. Sure, our clients are aware of them, and it becomes obvious to them when compared to better crafted offers that they don’t want to risk the sale of their home to a deal that is poorly written and negotiated. As listing agents we counsel our seller on their best options, and frequently they point out that they have no interest in trying to correct or fix a poorly written offer in the hopes it will win the day.
So how do you, as a consumer, determine if your agent is sufficiently skilled to negotiate on your behalf? Here’s three things should look for in a Buyer Agent:
#1 – ANSWERS YOUR QUESTIONS
Perhaps this is obvious, but the signs on a great (or not-so-great) agent will appear early in the interview process. Don’t be afraid to ask a lot of questions as you interview the agents you are considering working with. If you are going to invest the time and emotional energy to buy a home in today’s market, you want to make sure you have the best possible team assembled.
This is not a plug for those agents claiming the number one sales position or the mega-teams within the marketplace, as often in their haste to do as many deals as they need to do, they can be just as sloppy as the incompetent agents. Don’t get me wrong – you want an agent who is experienced and competent – and there are other factors to consider. Find an agent who has time for you (this will be clear early on). Too, consider how you get along with the agents you are interviewing, because you might be spending a lot of time together in the search for your perfect home!
#2 – PROVIDES PROPER GUIDANCE
A properly trained agent will be able to answer your questions about market conditions and appropriate strategies to help you buy your home, as there is no one-size fits all solution. Your ideal agent will be able to answer your questions about which clauses and conditions (if applicable) are needed, what they mean, and how they protect you.
Someone that is properly representing you won’t have an issue referring you to other experts such as lawyers, accountants and financial advisors in order to put you in the best position to buy without overpaying.
You want your agent to take the time to explain the process, it’s more than them unlocking the door to a house and saying “here’s the kitchen”. Most buyers won’t be familiar with how many forms are required to accompany an Agreement of Purchase and Sale, let alone understand what they mean and are intended for. A great agent should walk you through all of the required paperwork and clauses when submitting an offer.
#3 – DISPLAYS IN-DEPTH MARKET KNOWLEDGE
Probably the most important criteria is knowing that the agent representing you has access to and fully understands the local market. Most consumers don’t understand that there are multiple MLS® systems throughout the province. The Toronto Real Estate Board is probably the largest and best known. What consumers don’t understand is that there is no national full MLS® database that gives all agents full access to the required listing information. Too often, we have out of town agents using the limited marketing information from Realtor.ca to attempt to service their clients (yes, the exact information that you or any other consumer has access to). Realtor.ca is a marketing website and does not provide the detailed information like legal descriptions that are required to draft an Agreement of Purchase and Sale. We’ve seen too many agents calling the listing agent on offer night asking for details about the property that are readily available in the MLS® listing or asking for advice on what they should be putting in the offer. That’s clearly not representing their clients in a professional manner, but unfortunately it is the reality for many out of town buyers.
In summary, as a consumer you have the choice of 78,000 Realtors® in Ontario to choose from. You need to ask a lot of questions and look critically at the two or three that you choose to interview and work with.
The great agents will happily take the time to educate and advise you on how to get the best house in this market. The agents that are quick to offer discounts and money back are usually doing so because they don’t have the skills to compete with competent and knowledgeable professionals.
View the new sales reports at soldinguelph.ca
We’ve upgraded our sales reports! View the same weekly sales data you’re used to, with the addition of photos, maps & property details – imagine realtor.ca, but for sold properties! To access these new reports, you’ll just need to set up a login – it takes less than 2 minutes, and you can access the reports any day of the week!
HOW TO CREATE YOUR ACCOUNT
Sign up using the email address you have subscribed to our blog with
You will receive an email – click the longer link in that email
On the page that opens, click “Log In” and create a password, confirm your password, and click “Submit”
HOW TO ACCESS THE REPORTS
Once you are logged in, click the “Menu” button in the top right corner. All of the reports you’re used to are available here, but instead of PDF reports, you’ll notice they look much like Realtor.ca property listings. Feel free to explore the new features of the site, and let us know your feedback.
NOT A SUBSCRIBER?
Sign up for our weekly blog and receive up-to-date information on local market conditions, plus receive exclusive reports with each week’s homes sales & sales price, for all of Guelph’s neighbourhoods and nearby cities. Sign up below to get instant access to this week’s sale prices.
