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Archives for February 2011

So … What IS a Buyer Agency Agreement?

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In a previous post, I wrote a bit about why a Buyer Agency Agreement is important and how a Buyer / Broker relationship might occur. I also indicated that, as a rule, I require a Buyer Agency Agreement to work with Buyers.

So what, exactly, does a Buyer Agency Agreement obligate a Buyer to do? Likewise, what does it obligate the Broker to do?

Here are the essentials of a typical Buyer Agency Agreement:

  • Appoints a specific Broker (agent, salesperson—ME!) to work with you, but also creates an agency association with the Firm with whom the Broker works. It helps you understand that, not only are you represented by your specific selling Broker, but also by the Firm with whom the Broker has association.
  • It asks you to acknowledge receipt of the Law of Real Estate Agency pamphlet, which specifically sets out laws by which a Broker works in the State of Washington.
  • Sets out whether or not your relationship with the Broker governs any home you purchase in a given area and time frame, or whether your relationship is only for those homes in which the Broker participates (shows) you. It also clarifies what happens if you buy a home the Broker showed you after the term of the Buyer agreement has passed?
  • Allows the Broker to work as a dual agent in a transaction where the Broker represents the seller as their listing Broker, and you as their selling Broker.
  • Specifies exactly how and how much the Broker is paid. Your Broker may agree to only accept what the Seller has agreed to pay through the listing agreement the Seller has with their listing Broker. But …
    • What happens if the Seller’s contribution to the Broker’s compensation is minimal or insufficient to pay for all of the services a Broker must perform in a transaction? … or …
    • What happens in For Sale By Owner properties? Agency law in the State says that a broker doesn’t have to show you or pursue properties for you if there’s no compensation involved – but wouldn’t you as a Buyer still want representation by a trusted advisor? (After signing a Buyer Agency Agreement with me, I’ll represent you in a For Sale by Owner transaction, unless the seller is in a distress situation.)
  • Possibly one of the most important points in the agreement clarifies what the Broker will do in a Distressed Property Conveyance – one where you wish to participate in a distressed property transaction where the Seller will remain in the home after your purchase is complete, or will somehow gain in the transaction through retention of an interest in the property or will benefit from resale of the property.

In short … as with any critically important matter, you want the assurance that you are working with a professional who understands the laws governing real estate transactions and who will fully and competently represent your interests, and your interests alone (unless you agree to work within a dual agency situation).

Working With Buyers — That Scary Buyer Agency Agreement

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I love working with Buyers. The excitement of shopping for houses, seeing homes through their eyes, and the ultimate gratification everyone has when the transaction closes and move-in day occurs! It just doesn’t get much better than that!!

But working with Buyers is a tremendous amount of work. There’s a lot of stress involved, a myriad of big and little steps, lots of time on the phone, on the computer, in the car. Sometimes several offers are written and negotiated before an offer is ever accepted by a seller. In today’s world of bank-owned homes, short sale properties, pre-foreclosures, government-owned houses, the work can be difficult, exacting, and LENGTHY!

And I LOVE it!

Sometimes one of the trickiest negotiating points when working with Buyers begins early in the relationship between the Buyer and their Broker. After all, there’s often a presumption of loyalty very early on. You trust that the Broker will work with your best interests at heart … and the Broker trusts that you’ll use them to complete your home purchase.

Often a Buyer initially contacts the Broker asking to see that perfect house – you know, the one they’ve just driven by and it’s exactly what they want. Or the house on the internet with great pictures, or a great price, or a great neighborhood, or whatever.

So the Buyer calls the Broker. Could be the listing broker, could be a broker used by their best friend, or could be a broker for whom they’ve seen some advertising, found on the Web, or whatever.

The best Brokers start by doing a bit of careful screening prior to meeting a prospective Buyer at a home. The screening has a couple of purposes: Is the Buyer qualified to buy? Have they been looking long? Who have they worked with in the past? Are they working with an agent already? And, subtly, do they sound trustworthy? Should I take another agent/hubby/wife with me?

After agreeing to meet, whether it’s at the office for a prescreening, down the street at the local coffee shop, or at a home that’s just too good to delay, it’s typically a careful and somewhat cautious first date. Sometimes the first date is a lengthy phone call where everyone asks and answers a fair amount of questions. It’s a good way to see if there’s a fit – can the Buyer work with the Broker? Can the Broker work with the Buyer? Is there a formation of trust beginning to occur?

I’ve also found that there’s usually a whole portfolio of information the Buyers should receive prior to jumping in to make an offer on a home – sample contracts, definitions of terms, how the process works, a few legal documents including a copy of the Law of Real Estate Agency and a Buyer Agency Agreement. We’ll have a frank discussion about money matters as well. It’s important to me to learn what exactly what you can afford and how we should structure any sort of an offer to purchase. It’s important to you to learn how I get paid and by whom. It’s an important step to forming a trusted relationship between a professional (the Broker) and the Buyer.

Now, I won’t necessarily ask you to sign a Buyer Agency Agreement the first time we meet. YOU need to see if you can work with me as well. But I do request official formation of an agency relationship through acceptance of the Agreement at the conclusion of either the first or second showing session, after you’ve had some time to digest whether you like my working style, whether you trust me to represent your best interests, and, as well, whether I feel we can work together well as a team. Terms are negotiable, of course, but endorsement of the Agreement as we move forward will be necessary.

Follow the link here for more information about what’s in a basic Buyer Agency Agreement.

Protect Your Privacy … Again!

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Information available on the Internet grows exponentially. I mean, truly …. the number of sites and the amount of information where personal information can be found is staggering and a bit overwhelming, frankly.

Now, I’m a public person — you can find information about my business in any number of places. Those of us in any sort of a public sales role can easily be located. And I don’t mind sharing a bit of personal information as well. After all, my phone number, Web site address, office/work affiliation are plastered all over the place.

Where I take exception, however, is when one particular site takes it upon themselves to gather all of that public … and sometimes not so public … information into a central location and then allows other folks to see it for free, pay for the privilege of seeing it, or perhaps even hack into their database to find it.

Such is the case with spokeo.com. A quick visit to their site, typing my name, located all sorts of information about me, all neatly gathered together and available for curious eyes. The same thing was available for my husband, my children … even one of my grandchildren popped up for heavens sake (and they’re all under 8!) As tightly as possible, I lock down my information on Facebook, Twitter, etc. — everywhere I subscribe. Some info is there for the sharing, but only if you ask to be my friend. I like to pick my friends carefully … but frankly even friends don’t need to know everything! A quick Google search of Spokeo brings up a rabid angry crowd of folks who are incensed that their information is this easily available.

Granted this Spokeo information is a compilation of public information that is available in other places and on other sites. But frankly if someone wants to know that sort of information, they’ll daggone better have to search for it a bit harder. Personally, I also believe that one should not need to chase down all of these public sites to remove oneself from them … seems to me that they should be asking for permission to publish rather than the other way around. I guess I’m a bit old fashioned that way. And yes, this may be a bit naive, but it’s my personal soapbox for the moment.

Here are the steps to removing yourself from Spokeo:

1. Go to www. spokeo.com

2. Type your name into the search box, then click Search or press Enter.

3. If you have a common name, you may need to locate yourself from the list on the left of the screen. Click on your name to see the “teaser” box displaying basic information about yourself. … Whatever you do, don’t pay $$$ to see anything more.

4. Copy the URL address at the top of your browser — this will include your name, usually separated by % symbols, followed by a number and /info. A simple way to copy is to highlight the entire address, then use Ctrl+C

5. Now go back to the home page of Spoke. Click the “Privacy” link at the bottom of the page (it’s in teeny tiny letters). A Remove a Link page will open.

6. Click in the URL text box and paste your personal URL address. (A quick method is to use Ctrl+V)

7. Remove the “/info” that follows the numbers of the URL. Your “ID” number to them must end the URL

8. Type your e-mail address in the email text box, and then also complete the Captcha code.

9. Click Remove Listing. A confirming message will be sent to the e-mail address you provided.

10. Once the confirming message is received, click the “Click Here” link in the phrase “To complete the removal process, please click here.” You should be returned to the Spokeo site with a confirming message that your record has been removed.

From briefly skimming some of the comments about Spokeo on other sites, it appears that it’s possible your record will be re-created should you add a new public record of some sort, e-mail address, etc. You may need to keep an eye on this one.

And .. if you haven’t done so … be sure to go back and check your privacy settings in the public or social media sites you frequent. I believe that one can be active on the Web and out there, but we really do have to be a bit cautious about the type of information that’s easily available. I mean, after all, nobody needs to see my “Wealth” information unless I offer it to them.