Discover Your Perfect Home with The Via Domus Team!
Why You Need the Via Domus Team
of William Raveis Real Estate by Your Side!
If you have started looking for a home – and for a real estate agent to assist you – you may be asked to sign a Buyer Representation Agreement. What is this form? Why should you sign it?
A Buyer Representation Agreement is a legal document that formalizes your working relationship with a particular buyer’s representative, detailing what services you are entitled to and what your buyer’s rep expects from you in return. While the language used in the document is formal, homebuyers should view it as an important and helpful tool for clarifying expectations, developing mutual loyalty, and most importantly, elevating the services you will receive.
Receive a higher level of service
If you have formalized an agency relationship with a buyer’s rep, you can expect to be treated like a client instead of a customer. What is the difference? Clients are entitled to superior services, relative to customers. While the details vary from state to state, and from one buyer’s agent to another, you can generally assume that being a client means that you have formed a fiduciary, or agency relationship with your buyer’s rep.
Avoid misunderstandings
A Buyer’s Representation Agreement clarifies expectations, helping you understand what you should and should not expect from your buyer’s rep, and what they will expect from you, which usually centers on loyalty.
To schedule a Buyer Consultation with The Via Domus Team, CLICK HERE!
Marketing: If the listing broker or seller is offering compensation for the buyer’s broker, the listing agent can share that offer through their marketing, such as in flyers, signs or emails.
Website displays: A broker can show offers of compensation for their listings on their website display. Brokers must not display offers of compensation for other broker’s listings on their website display. You can show other brokers’ compensation on your listings if you don’t get it from MLS data or an MLS feed.
Seller concessions: Sellers may elect to offer concessions to the buyer, which may be used for items like paying for the buyer’s closing costs or the commission for the buyer’s agent. If the local MLS allows, such concessions can be communicated on the MLS within designated fields. However, any concessions listed cannot be conditioned on the use of or payment to a buyer broker.
Negotiations: Buyers may request that their agent include broker compensation as part of the terms of a purchase offer.
Buyer agreements: NAR’s proposed settlement agreement will require buyers and their agents to enter into written agreements before touring homes. These agreements will detail the compensation for using the buyer broker’s services. In almost every case, home sellers have already agreed to pay a buyer’s agent’s commission. If they have not, you can ask your buyer’s rep to avoid showing you any such homes. Or you can still view the home, knowing that you will need to factor your agent’s commission into any offer you may write. While buyers rarely pay real estate commissions, this is an important detail you will want to discuss with your buyer’s rep and clarify in their representation agreement.
Ways to negotiate and communicate
offers of compensation
While most representation agreements specify a time period, they can be terminated early if both party’s consent. Most buyer’s reps are willing to end the agreement early if the working relationship is not going well. Some buyer’s reps offer representation agreements for as little as one day, for the purpose of giving both parties a brief trial period to explore working together.
Agency relationship & mutual consent
When you and your buyer’s rep work together within a formalized agency relationship, you have created a team dedicated to helping you achieve the best possible home-buying experience.
Strength as a team
Property Search
The Via Domus Team will assess your criteria for a house and towns you desire to live in, then set up a search for properties that fit those specifications. You have a personalized search portal to log into and view these properties photos and information. The Via Domus Team will set appointments for showings and monitor the market as new listings become available.
Market value is determined by many factors, including the availability of similar properties at competitive prices, location, condition, and most of all, the price that a knowledgeable buyer is willing to pay. The Via Domus Team will provide market data to help you establish an offering price.
Market Data
To fill out our Buyer Questionnaire, CLICK HERE!
Sellers list their homes with real estate agents to ensure professional representation throughout the home selling process. As a buyer, you deserve the same kind of service and representation!
Purchase Offer
There may be other considerations besides price that are equally important in structuring a purchase offer. The terms and conditions of the offer, amount of deposit and possession date are likely to be factors when an offer is made. The Via Domus Team will help in your preparation of a purchase offer.
When a purchase offer is made, the sellers may be concerned with certain aspects including the ability of the purchasers to fulfill their agreement, the terms and conditions of the offer, the breakdown of closing costs between the buyer and seller and even the motivation and lifestyle of the prospective new owners. The Via Domus Team will help structure a negotiating strategy that will create the desired results, a new home.
Negotiating
There are additional things to be considered between signing the purchase offer and moving into a new home, such as home inspection, appraisal, mortgage commitment, etc. The Via Domus Team will attend to the details and keep you in touch with the transaction each step of the way.
Handling Details
The Via Domus Team has received training in the real estate, mortgage and settlement services processes and are certified homeownership professionals. This means they can help both buyers and sellers navigate the homeownership process and negotiation process, making the transition seamless and stress free.
Certified Homeownership Professionals
“Brenda and Michael were consummate professionals and helped us find the right house at the right price. They pointed out to us what was good and what was bad at a variety of properties, which we greatly appreciated. Between Brenda and Michael, they were completely knowledgeable.”
Brian & Amy Nadel, Woodbridge
To view additional Via Domus Team client testimonials, click here!