should you work with a buyer's agent in new york city we'll demystify this topic
in the following video i'm Nick at. Hauseit visit our website hauseit.com to learn
how to save money if you are looking to buy or sell or rent here in new york
city long island the hudson valley as well as miami and south florida so let's
get started
so should you work with a buyer's agent in new york city let's take a step back
and understand why buyer's agents even exist in the first place
well the answer is that currently buyer's agents exist because of the
prevailing commission structure here in new york city the custom is that sellers
pay all of the typical five or six percent commission including of course
the split on that which goes to the buyer's agent so in other words buyer's
agents exist because sellers pay for buyers agents and therefore a typical
purchaser does not have to pay any money out of pocket to have the benefit of
working with a buyer's agent throughout the process and furthermore
while many buyers may suspect that potentially the seller saves money on
commission if there's no buyer's agent most of the time that's actually not the
case your typical exclusive right to sell listing agreement in new york city
stipulates a fixed commission rate of say six percent which is payable
upon closing regardless of whether the buyer has an agent or not
so if the buyer's unrepresented well the listing agent just has a very fantastic
payday and collects the entire six percent so to recap
why are there buyers agents to begin with why are you even thinking about
hiring a buyer's agent because the commission customs and mechanics in the
city essentially allow them to exist so should you work with a buyer's agent
what does a buyer's agent actually do you can find all the listings on the
internet so you know what's the point even if it's free what's the point of
having somebody hanging out with you during the during you know your home
buying process well one of the the main things that a
buyer's agent can do is not necessarily send you listing ideas but to help kind
of point you in the right direction based on the way your search is
progressing for example if you start your search by
saying you know i want to spend you know 600k and i want to buy a one bedroom
maybe you're looking in manhattan and maybe you're not happy with the
inventory that you're seeing but you haven't yet made that sort of mental
leap to think wait a minute perhaps there's another neighborhood in brooklyn
maybe there's a neighborhood in brooklyn that feels very much like manhattan in
terms of what things i value where i might very well love to buy something
there but you haven't yet made that mentally
a seasoned buyer's agent knows the city like the back of her his hand will know
right away to sort of hint and suggest you know for you to consider
other neighborhoods that you might not be currently looking at other property
types and just generally giving you ideas maybe a little bit quicker than
how long it would take you to figure out on your own and certainly you know if
you're looking to buy before your lease expires or you know you really just want
to secure a property get some inflation protection and so forth having somebody
basically give you a tip and point you in the right direction with respect to
your search can save you a boatload of time
your buyer's agent can also provide useful advice and guidance throughout
the process namely walking you through of course every step of the process
making sure you're prepared in advance of the arrival of each subsequent stage
of the home buying journey it's a very competitive market i mean you have
buyers out there and i mean like they're like sharks they they've done it before
perhaps they're investor buyers people know really what they're doing
and so you know if you're totally unprepared you don't know what's going
on and you're learning things in the moment and potentially too late you will
at some point get out maneuvered by another buyer so having a seasoned
buyer's agent can can give you information in advance make sure you're
prepared and ultimately this means that you know your odds of maybe losing out
on your dream home to a more prepared buyer are going to be a bit lower by way
of having an agent versus going out and buying on your own
your buyer's agent can also help you coordinate showings now i know that
sounds like something you could very much do on your own and you absolutely
can but at the end of the day you know you may want to see a large number of
properties your buyer's agent for free without any cost to you can literally
like build a showing schedule for you for an entire day so think about all
the logistics that can be solved by this person
basically acting as your concierge so there's definitely a benefit there and
in addition like let's say you know you send them one listing idea that you want
to see a good buyer's agent will take that
listing idea think a little bit about it and what it means in the context of your
home search and maybe suggest to you like four or five other properties that
are similar that are in the area and add those to the showing that you originally
wanted to schedule for so instead of just going out to see one apartment now
you're potentially fully utilizing your time seeing many different other ideas
which ultimately will give you more insight more information and lead you
much closer to the point where you find something that you may want to buy
the other advantage of having your buyer's agent help you with the showings
and scheduling the showings is that you won't get harassed by listing agents
listing agents will constantly ask you the same question are you represented do
you have a pre-approval can i work with you on your home search do you really
want to get solicited by every single listing agent of every single property
when all you want to do is just see a home so your your buyer's agent can
basically act as a barrier to help eliminate sort of this noise and this
wasteful interaction from your your home purchase process
altogether now your buyer's agent can also help obtain answers to questions
and specific questions about various buildings and listings that you're
considering so if you want to see like the financials for a building if you
want to see the sublet policy or pet policy for a specific co-op or if you
have let's say sort of an analytical conceptual question about you know the
risk of an assessment for building a versus building b your buyer's agent can
provide you with both the
insight that you require and obviously work to obtain the requisite
documentation that you might be looking for so it'll really just make your life
a lot easier having somebody on your side
tracking down documents getting answers and providing you with with insight
you know throughout the process your buyer's agent will also obviously
negotiate on your behalf so your agent will help you put together
an initial offer submit that and go back and forth in terms of the subsequent
rounds of negotiating and throughout that process you know provide an ear
towards strategic thoughts on how we approach it
what are the comps looking like what's going on in the mind of the seller
getting intel from the listing agent connecting with her him so all of those
things will potentially point you down a better path and hopefully result
in you ending up in a better place when it comes to the ultimate negotiation on
the home that you end up buying your buyer's agent can also assist with
the board package in the case you're buying a condo or a co-op now both
condos and co-ops do have a pretty extensive application that you must
submit you have to gather together several financial documents tax returns
bank statements reference letters in most cases
as well as various disclosure forms and things that you have to sign so it's a
lot of work it's kind of like a really glorified annoying book report that you
would have done in high school perhaps or a project and so you know your agent
will basically do it for you all you have to do is provide them with of
course documentation and items that are required your agent will review it put
it together make sure it's thorough organize it and
put a cover letter make sure it's delivered and you know follow up with
the management so it really provides a huge lift particularly if you're like
you know the typical new yorker super busy
with working 24 7 don't really have time to just do a book report so your buyer's
agent can definitely help make your life a bit easier if you're buying a condo or
a co-op another benefit or reason to work with a buyer's agent
is that your agent can connect you with the relevant third parties that you
actually need in order to successfully close your home purchase
for example you will need a real estate attorney in new york city to buy a home
you may also need a home inspector if you're buying a townhouse or a single or
multi-family property or if you're buying an apartment with you know
penthouse outdoor space or something on the ground floor
we can also as a buyer's agent provide you with introductions to lenders and
mortgage brokers as well so that you can shop around for the best rate so in
other words your buyer's agent can leverage their experience and their
track record of doing deals and closing deals to connect you with the various
third parties who have made it very efficient and easy to close those deals
in the past in other words people who are proven people who know what they're
doing with fair pricing and you know good interpersonal skills and such so
those introductions are really valuable as part of this process of buying your
home here in new york city so we hope you found this video to be helpful
perhaps we convinced you that you should work with a buyer's agent perhaps we did
not convince you but in either case we appreciate you watching and if you are
looking to buy here in new york city and if you are looking for a buyer's agent
check out our website hauseit.com we can help you save up to two percent or more
on your home purchase through our Hauseit Buyer Closing Credit service
it really is a no-brainer to reduce your closing costs so please do connect with
us send us an email if you'd like as well
team@hauseit.com or give us a call 888-494-8258