Buyer's Advocate Directory

How do you choose a buyer's agent?

Tags: buyers advocates buyers agent buyers agents choose clarification client needs search

Now that you know what a Buyer's Advocate or Buyer's Agent is and
why should you use a buyer's advocate or buyer's agent, it's time to focus on the next question:

How do you choose a buyer's agent?

There is no right or wrong approach to choosing a buyer's advocate or buyer's agent. However there are a series of steps that can help you make the right choice.

1. Do your research!

Once you know that you want to purchase a property using a buyer's agent, it's time to make an important decision, which one should you go with? Most major cities in Australia have at least one buyer's agent and so you will need to decide which will perform best in acting on your behalf.

The Buyer's Advocate Directory was established to help simplify the research task for you. We provide a listing of all buyer's agents in Australia and allow you to browse quickly through these listings to get a feel for the different agents. But this site is geared towards helping you make that decision and research that decision, not make the decision for you.

Friends or colleagues can be an invaluable source. They do not hold back from giving an honest assessment of how things went (from their point of view), and help give you a more qualitative understanding of the buyer's agent. This is often the primary recommendation that a new client of a buyer's agent follows. However it is dangerous to blindly follow a recommendation. You need to assess the person giving the advice and their relationship with the buyer's agent. They may have just wanted a negotiation service, whereas you want a full service. Or they may be impulsive whereas you are disciplined, and it's possible that you will work best with another firm.

So use the opportunity provided during this stage to start to clarify your goals and your needs. Begin to think about what type of property you want to purchase, where you would like to buy, how much you would like to spend, and what kind of return you would like from your property. As you begin to understanding your needs you can make an even more informed decision on the buyer's agent that will suit you best.

2. Talk to different firms

Now that you are beginning to have an understanding of your needs, have talked to friends and colleagues and have used the Buyer's Advocate Directory to research the different firms, it's time to talk to them. Most buyer's agents will happily be 'interviewed', but to get a lot out of this you need to be prepared. Ask them about their fees, their services, their feelings, their past experiences. Get to know the agent and the firm, as they will be performing a crucial role for you and you want to make sure the right person is in charge.

The more knowledge you have at this stage, the more empowered you will be to make the right decision.

3. Understand the different firms

Once you are happy with one or two buyer's agencies, make another appointment and learn more about how they work. How do they clarify your needs? How do they approach the search stage? How do they report back to you with what is going on?

Here you can go in-depth with the agent to make sure you choose exactly the right firm.

4. Start the search

Once you are happy and have choosen you may have to pay a fee and the fun begins.

Last modified: May 16, 2008 8:38 PM