Buyers: Here’s how I get paid and what that gets you.
How I get paid
Many agents who work with buyers avoid talking about how they get paid. Some even tell buyers their services are “free” because they’re paid for from the seller’s sale proceeds.
This makes no sense to me. So here’s the deal:
I get paid a percentage of the sale price at closing. The seller determines the amount and varies, but is usually around 2.5%. So, if you buy a $400,000 home with me, I might get paid $10,000.
Every time I work with buyer clients, it is different. Sometimes the process takes a few days; sometimes, it takes months to close the right home on the correct terms. But on average, I provide 120 hours of services for buyer clients.
That’s an average of $83 per hour. And if you do not end up buying a home? I get paid nothing. I invest my time up front and take on the risk.
What that gets you
A good buyer agent will do hundreds of things (yes, really) for you, but at the highest level, they will help you gain two things:
1. Confidence in your decision
I have the knowledge and skills you’ll need to evaluate the homes you look at deeply. That does not mean looking at past sales prices and doing a tour with you, though I do that, too. It means knowing how to read (and read between the lines) the seller’s property disclosure and inspection reports and understanding what issues with a home are and are not big problems.
2. The best deal you can get
In other words, I’ll save you money. The price you offer on a home is always your decision, but my job is to help get you to that decision with as much context as possible. No, the best price to offer is not what Zillow says it’s worth. It’s based on your agent’s knowledge of the home, the local market, and their negotiation skills. This is an art and a science. And a real estate transaction is like everything else: you get what you negotiate. Counter-offers, contingencies, timelines – I’ll work through it all for you.
Those are two big things out of hundreds. From managing the documents you’ll need to sign to recommending service providers you’ll need, I have all the bases covered because buying a home is a big deal with lots of money and emotions at stake.