Many agents try to avoid representing buyers when the market is good. The main reason for this is the trade of time in hopes of getting a commission. When you represent a seller you don’t have to spend that much time physically with the seller where as when you represent the buyer you will spend plenty of time with them hopefully finding the home of their dreams. Here are a few rules to help you with buyers. Parc Central Residences price are the right one to offer a new property to the individuals. The following of the rules is the best method to select the home. The dream home is available to the buyers at the affordable rates.
1) Make sure that the buyer is pre-qualified for a mortgage. You don’t want to waste their, or your own, time trying to find a property they can not actually purchase. They can do this by simply calling a mortgage company and telling them they are trying to get pre-qualified for a mortgage. If you have used a company in the past, you can recommend one however if you get any compensation from the mortgage company for referrals you must disclose this to the buyer UPFRONT.
2) Make sure that you get an idea of the clients finances. Their mortgage expense should not exceed 33 percent of their income. As their agent you want to make sure that the buyer is not getting in over their head. You have a fiduciary relationship with the buyer which means that they have put their trust and confidence in you to point them in the right direction. Do not show a buyer a home based on the commission that you would get from the sale. In some states it is illegal for an agent to represent both the buyer and seller in one transaction, ie. you have a home listed with one client and a buyer client that is making a purchase of that listing, because of the nature of being in a fiduciary relationship with both parties.
3) Make a sheet for yourself that breaks down exactly what the buyers are looking for. It is a good idea to just make yourself a worksheet so that you cover the basics with every buyer client.
You will want to know how many bedrooms the client is looking for.
- How many bathrooms.
- Price ranges that they are comfortable with.
- Fireplace?
- Pool?
- Basement?
- Single story/two story/split level?
- etc.
Make sure that you find out what things are flexible on their list like it must have a fireplace and what items are complete deal breakers like it has to have a pool. It is also a good idea to find out what kind of neighborhoods they are looking for or if they would like a home out in the middle of know where. Maybe the client wants to look in one or two neighborhoods because they have a family member or friend that they would like to move close to.
4) When your buyers find a home that they want to put an offer in on it is your job to submit their offer to the sellers agent. You will fill out the purchase contract with the offer price that the client specifies. Remember the buyer does not have to offer what the selling price is. You will take the good faith deposit and give it to the sellers agent in a timely manner. Make sure that you add in any clauses in the contract that your clients request ie. homeowner must leave back yard shed. It is always a good idea to put an expiration on the contract. For example contract must be accepted or countered by seller within 7 business days. This is a good way to get the seller to make a decision on the offer within a reasonable amount of time but also gives the homeowner time to think offer the offer if it is not what they were asking. Also remember that a purchase contract is a binding contract so anything that is included or is not included does make a difference.
5) Once an offer is accepted on a property your job is not done. You want to make sure that your client has everything needed to go to settlement. Settlement is when the property actually changes hands. Usually a mortgage broker will let them know exactly how much they need to bring in terms of cash and what proof they need to get their mortgage like ID’s and pay stubs. You also want to make sure that the property they are purchasing has a clean title, clean of any liens ie. unpaid taxes or unpaid construction bills, and that there is no second mortgage on the property that your clients are assuming, meaning taking over responsibility for, when they take possession of the property. Title search companies can do this but the seller does have an obligation to reveal all of this information as well. Sometimes the homeowner will settle any liens with funds from the sale of the property.
6) When your clients move in make sure that you stay in contact with them. Ask if there is anything that they need from you and make sure that they are happy about their purchase. There isn’t a lot they can do about the purchase if they are un-happy assuming that the sellers disclosure, a document filled out by the homeowner that asks basic questions about the property and the homeowners knowledge of any defects, was filled out correctly. It is more a courtesy to check in with them. You want to do everything in your power to make your client happy.
7) Start your contact schedule with your buyers. This is where you are trying to get more business from a prior client. Send a sports team magnet, birthday cards, Christmas cards, etc all with your picture and contact information on it. You want them to be constantly reminded of you so that if they have friends or family members looking to buy or sell they will think of you and what a great agent you are.
This is kind of a quick run through the process of how to work with a buyer client. Because each state is different in laws and contracts it is hard to cover the exact process in each state. However the important thing to keep in mind is that you have an obligation to your client to have there best interests at heart and the better you represent them the more likely you are to get more business from them in the future.
