Choosing Your Home - Your Buyer’s Agent

I’m all about the buyers

 
 


In 1983 a classic study started a revolution in real estate sales.


The Federal Trade Commission found that 72 percent of all buyers believed the agent they worked with was representing their interests. That meant that three out of four buyers were "spilling their guts to agents who weren't representing them," as one buyer agent wrote. The report fueled a nationwide legislative agenda that forced the real estate industry to disclose whom the broker or licensee represents in every situation. By 1988, most states had disclosure laws in place.


A survey conducted in 2001 found 46 percent of home buyers used buyer representation.


Real Estate Buyer Agent Council, a wholly owned subsidiary of the National Association of Realtors, trains real estate licensees how to serve the buyer and grants the respected Accredited Buyer Representative designation to agents for reaching certain education and experience standards.


Buyer representation is not the exception anymore, it's the norm. Consumers now know they have the right to be represented.


"The struggle is over. Buyer agency is here. We still need to educate the consumer, but buyer agency has come of age," says Janet Branton, executive director of the 44,000-member REBAC.

By Christopher Cruise, Bank Rate .com