How can that be?? The fact is, we are licensed real estate sales persons just like the agents with the large firms except that we always work for the best interests of the buyer in a real estate transaction. Most folks know that if they have a house to sell, they contact a listing agent, hire the agent to list and sell their home. In the past, when buyers were looking for a home to buy, they would look for signs in communities they liked, call the phone number on the sign and visit the house with someone from the listing brokerage. Or, they might call on newspaper advertisements, or visit open houses, or ask an agent with a large company to help them.
In the early 1990s, it became clear to some smart buyers that something was missing. Sellers and the listing agents were very much in charge of the transaction. Buyers were not advised about home inspections, comparable sales for the community, advantageous loans, terms and conditions that were negotiable with the seller, defects in the house, community facts that would impact the value of the home.
What was missing from the real estate transaction was the knowledge on the part of the buyer that the real estate agent selling them their new home was working for, owed loyalty to and generally had a fiduciary to get the best price at the best terms FOR THE SELLER.
Following some very important law suits and a realization on the part of some legislators that buyers were not being served well in the home purchase process, they began requiring that agents disclose, in writing, to buyers the fact that the agent the buyers thought was working for them, was, in fact, working for the sellers of all the homes they visited. Buyers were not being treated fairly.
Maryland law now requires that agents working for companies that list properties for sale disclose to buyers that they work for the sellers, if that's the fact. Unfortunately, buyers may not know an agent's loyalty until they have looked at homes, selected the home they want to buy and are emotionally committed to the agent.
The only way you can be sure that the agent showing you homes is loyal to you, the buyer, is to work with an EXCLUSIVE BUYERS AGENT. That is our mission. We do not list properties for sale and never will. Our loyalty is to you. If we see a defect in a home, we will tell you. If we know of environmental, highway, zoning, airport, etc, plans that would impact value of a home, we will tell you. If we know a home is overpriced, we will tell you. If we know of any fact that would help you get better terms and conditions, we will tell you. That's our promise to you. 100% LOYALTY TO BUYERS 100% OF THE TIME.
And, it costs you nothing. Even though we have loyalty to you and work for your interests, we still collect our fee the same way agents working with buyers always have, from the commission paid at settlement to the listing agent. NEVER A FEE TO BUYERS.
RELOCATING?
If you are relocating to Montgomery County, we can help. Click here to see how.
