What are the Advantages to working with a Buyers Agent?
How are Selling and Buyers Agents different?
Fiduciary duties of a Buyers Agent?
What kind of fair treatment should I expect from a Buyers Agent?
WHAT ARE THE ADVANTAGES OF WORKING WITH A BUYER’S AGENT?
Despite what some people may think, being a buyer’s agent doesn’t mean that he or she will rush in and hammer the seller into submission. The buyer’s agent works for the interest of the buyer, but also must know how to work with the listing agent so that the seller sells and the buyer buys. Acting in an adversarial manner is not the most effective way to represent a buyer. Only a buyer’s agent can:
HOW
ARE SELLING AGENTS AND BUYER’S AGENT DIFFERENT?
The first thing to remember is that Wisconsin law does not allow real estate agents to be adversarial for or against the seller or the buyer. They are legally required to treat all parties fairly.
If you work with a selling agent, there is no contract between you and the agent, and you are not the agent’s principal. You will, however, receive a disclosure of Real Estate Agency Form that lists the fair treatment duties owed by all agents to all parties, and which indicates that the selling agent is an owner’s agent. The selling agent will show you properties you are interested in seeing, get more information about properties of interest, and draft the purchase contract as you direct. The selling agent must provide you with information about any known or potential property defects, and help identify those situations when you should consult a professional such as a home inspector or building contractor to help you evaluate a property condition, or an attorney or accountant to advise you on legal or tax matters.
If you work with a buyer’s agent, you and the buyer’s agent sign a WB-36 Exclusive Buyer Agency Agreement that includes a Disclosure of Real Estate Agency. This disclosure lists the fair treatment duties owed by all agents to all parties and the duties owed to principals or clients, and indicates that the buyer’s agent is the agent of the buyer. You are the buyer’s agent’s principal or client, and the buyer’s agent receives a fee when he or she successfully helps you find a property and negotiate a purchase contract in accordance with your buyer agency agreement. You have the right to negotiate the fee with the buyer’s agent and determine whether the fee is paid by the listing broker, the seller, by you, or by some combination of these. A buyer’s agent helps you get the best possible price, negotiates for beneficial contract terms, and generally assists you throughout the transaction. A buyer’s agent owes you the fair treatment duties owed to all parties plus the higher level of agent-client fiduciary duties.
1.
Loyalty
A buyer’s agent must loyally represent you, avoid all conflicts of interest with you, and put your best interest ahead of any other party.
2.
Disclosure
A buyer’s agent is obligated to make a full, fair and timely disclosure to you of all known facts that are lawfully material to the transaction. A material fact is one that a reasonable person might feel is important
In choosing a course of action. Examples of material facts are:
· The existence of other offers.
· The reason the seller is selling, provided the seller permits this information to be shared with others and does not require it to be kept confidential.
3.
Obedience
The agent must carry out the obligations started in the WB-36 Buyers Agency Agreement and mist obey all of your lawful orders which relate to the agent’s duties as stated in that contract. For example, the agent must order a survey or appraisal on your behalf if you ask him or her to do so, provided this function lies within the scope of the buyer agency contract. However, an agent may not violate the law — he or she may not refuse to show you a property owned by a member of a minority group, for example.
AS A BUYER, WHAT KIND OF FAIR TREATMENT CAN I EXPECT FROM ALL REAL ESTATE AGENTS?
All real estate agents owe the following duties to both buyers and sellers:
1.
Fair and honest
treatment
Every agent must provide services honestly, fairly, and in good faith. When answering your questions, every agent must be honest and accurate.
2.
Disclosure of
Material Adverse Facts
Every agent must disclose material adverse Facts that von do not already know or that you cannot discover through vigilant observation. Adverse facts are conditions, which significantly and adversely affect the property value, the structure, or the health of the occupants, or information concerning the inability or refusal of a party to carry out the offer. Examples of material adverse facts include a leaky roof or high radon readings, or the fact that a foreclosure sale will prevent the seller from being able to sell.
3.
Confidentiality
Every agent must keep confidential any information, which you indicate is confidential, and any information that the agent knows a reasonable person would want to he kept confidential. When yon receive the required agency disclosure statement that the agent must give you before beginning to work with you, you can list the information you consider to the confidential. You can also list information that might be considered confidential but which you are authorizing the agent to disclose. For example, you can permit the agent to reveal information about your financial qualifications to the seller, to encourage the seller to accept your offer to purchase.
4.
Provision of
Accurate Market Condition Information
You may ask the agent to provide timely and accurate information about market conditions, and every agent must respond with examples of sale prices for comparable properties.
5.
Reasonable Skill and
Care
Every agent must be knowledgeable concerning real estate laws, public policies, current market conditions, and the physical characteristics of the property being sold. Every agent must use reasonable skill and care when:
· Inspecting properties
· Preparing and giving a general explanation of the purchase contract and other relevant documents
· Monitoring deadlines and closing dates
· Making reasonable efforts to find a property meeting your criteria
· Recommending that you seek third-party advisers (such as attorneys, accountants, home inspectors, or building contractors) when appropriate
6.
Accounting
Every agent must account for all funds or other things of value received from the parties to the transaction. Funds, such as earnest money or cash advances, are held in the agent’s trust account where they are kept separate from the agent’s money and where separate records are kept for each transaction.
7.
Objective
Presentation of Offers
Every agent must make an objective and unbiased presentation of all proposals and offers and indicate the advantages and disadvantages of each.
Splash Realty
P.O. Box 360 110 East Walnut Street
North Freedom, WI 53951
(608)339-0999 Fax(608)522-3425
Toll Free 1-86MUST SELL
1-866-878-7355