Questions To Ask Agents When You Are Analyzing Who Should Represent You on Your Home Purchase

Buying a home is is the most important financial decision you will ever make - and as such, you should take good care to ANALYZE and interview agents before you hire one.  

You should ask A LOT of questions of any agent.  Why roll the dice and gamble?

Here are other questions you should ask any agent - when you are trying to determine who should represent you:

• Are you a Certified Negotiation Expert? (we are.... as such - we can get you tens of thousands of dollars in a better purchase price using that expertise, alone...)
• How long have you been representing buyers?  (8 years)
• What Real Estate designations do you have?   (ABR - Accredited Buyer Rep, CNE - Certified Negotiation Expert, GRI - Graduate Realtor Institute)
• Are you an Accredited Buyer Representative? (we are)
• Which ones are buyer-related?  (all of them)
• Are you a Graduate of the Real Estate Institute?  (we are)
• (IF they have an ABR designation) -- Do you have any additional training beyond just the ABR designation? If so - what?   (Yes - over 80 high-end courses in research and negotiation)
• Do you have any long term credentials in research and analysis and information gathering? If so - what?  (Yes - high end corporate competitive intelligence for Fortune 500 companies - and many high-end research and analysis certifications)
• Do you call yourself a "buyer's agent" only when you are working with a buyer? In other words - do you also list property for sale?   (Our answer - no)
• What percentage of your transactions have been buyers versus listings? (most so-called buyer agents spend most of their time with their listed sellers)    (Our answer - 100%)
• Will you guarantee me that you will not be representing any seller at any time while you are working for me?  (Our answer - yes)
• How many listings do you have at the moment? (Our answer - none)   Isn't that your priority - servicing them?  (Our answer - NA - we spend 100% of our time providing top notch service to our buyer clients.  Our time isn't conflicted.)
• Will you be showing me your company's listings?  (Our answer - no)   If so - can you represent me 100% when doing so?  (Our answer - NA)
• Will you have a relationship with me of "dual agency", "designated agent", transactional agent", or any other form of agency other than Exclusive Buyer Agency?  (Our answer - no) 
• Do you practice dual agency?  (Our answer - no)
• What percentage of your personal business, and what percentage of your company's business is representing buyers vs sellers? (Our answer - 100% buyers)  What percent is sellers?  (Our answer - zero)   Can you document that for me?  (Our answer - yes)
• Do you receive a larger in-house split from your broker when you sell an in-house listing?  (Our answer - no - since we don't list - so we have no home showing biases.  We show a wider array of homes than a typical buyer agent.)
• Do you have any agreements with sellers that might limit your ability to tell me everything you know about the seller and their reasons for selling?  (Our answer - no)
• Will you show me all the homes on the market that meet my expressed needs and desires including bank owned foreclosures, short sales, for-sale-by owner, new construction, etc? (Our answer - yes) 
• Do you actively search out "For Sale By Owner" properties for your clients?  (Our answer - yes)
• Will you show me a FSBO that doesn't pay out a commission at all?  (Our answer - yes)
• How many buyers have you successfully represented in the last six months, and can I have the name and phone number of at least six of these buyers?  (Our answer yes)
• Can you please print out all of your buyer-side transactions within the past year, and show me your statistics for "price-off"?  (Our answer - yes)
• What specific buyer agent training have you had in the last year, and what negotiation courses have you taken?  (National Assn of Exclusive Buyer Agents - 22 hours of training at National Conference, and Certified Negotiation Expert Course)
• Can you give me the six fiduciary duties you owe me if I hire you as my buyer's agent?  (Our answer - yes)
• Will you ask me to sign a buyer representation contract? (Our answer - yes)  Can I have the contract, so that I can compare it with other ones?  (Our answer yes.... you'll find it to have many more benefits for the buyer included within it)
• Will you recommend other professionals to assist me? (Inspectors, Real Estate attorneys, lenders etc.) (Our answer - yes)
• What criteria did you use when you selected them?   (Our answer - the most experienced in their field - and consistent top performance)
• Are any of these referrals "in-house"?  (Our answer - no.  You never want to use an in-house lender or an agent who originates loans - that is a huge conflict of interest.)
• Are any of the inspectors that you use, one's that are good at "not blowing the deal" for your sellers?  (Our answer - no.   We want inspectors that are aggressive - and not afraid to point out every single defect.) 
• Do you help your buyer client "shop" for the best loan rate and fees? (Our answer - yes)  If so - how?  (talk to us to find out)
• Will you ever become an intermediary? (Our answer - no)  If so, explain.
• What clauses in an offer will you recommend to protect me as a buyer?  (talk to us to find out)
• Will you check neighborhoods for registered sex offenders, and give us other crime statistics?  (talk to us to find out and we'll show you)
• What kind of school related research do you provide to your clients?  (talk to us to find out and we'll show you)
• What areas do you cover?  (Our answer - a large part of the Chicago metro area.  We've had transactions in just about every suburb you can imagine - as well as downtown Chicago)  Mostly just your "farming for listing prospects" area?  (Our answer - no)
• How many homes do you show per week / per month / per year approximately?  (Our answer - approximately 2,400 / year or 200/mo)
• How will you help me save money?  (talk to us and we'll show you)
• Do you take any advertised bonuses in the remarks section or elsewhere on an MLS listing sheet.  (Our answer - no.  We ensure that is credited back to you - the buyer.  A traditional agent may keep the 10k adertised bonus for themselves) 
• Do you get paid more when my purchase price goes up?   (Our answer - no)
• How will you protect my best interests, and why should I hire you rather than another agent?  (talk to us to find out)
• Will you point out all the negative aspects of each property as well as the positive aspects so I will be fully informed when making my decision?  (Our answer - yes.)   Can you refer me to a former buyer client where you did that for them?  (Our answer - yes.) 

In short -- so-called buyer agents may try to "sell" you on their own listing inventory (double dip commission) or push their company's inventory since they may get a bigger in-house commission "spiff" that way.  Or - they may try to "sell" you on a property that offers them more "cooperative commission" payout.   (We have no such biases based on our agreement with the buyer - with all listed extra bonuses going to our buyer client)   They can also get into dual agency conflict of interest situations.  That mean that you go from being represented - to not being represented at all - in your purchase transaction - because the agent is suddenly half on the seller's side.  Believe it or not - this is LEGAL in Illinois.  Not all things that are legal are ethical. 

Exclusive Buyer Agents are totally impartial as to what company's homes they show you - because they don't list.  EBA's don't "sell" you on anything.  They help you buy - with your eyes wide open. 

Sadly - many people use the agent who sends them the most refrigerator magnets or junk mail - because they are familiar!  Your dog is familiar - but you wouldn't use your dog to represent you now - would you?    I say that in jest - but many consumers make just such a dog-bone-headed (pun intended) decision when selecting an agent.    99% of the agents that send you junk mail are listing agents.  Their speciality is representing sellers.  They

Or - it is entirely possible that your friend had a good experience with an agent - and referred you to them - but your friend didn't know the difference between a buyer agent and an exclusive buyer agent.   They didn't know that they likely would have received much better results / price with an exclusive buyer agent.   \

Let's face it - their agent was a "sales person" and SOLD them on the house and sold them on the fact that it was a good transaction for them.  How is the buyer to know any differently?  

The analogy is that they got their tooth pulled by the dental hygenist who shot them up with novocane - and they were told it's ok - bleeding for the next week is normal - when they could have had a specialist.   They loved the feeling of the novacane.  Their agent made more money when the price went up - but it didn't matter to the buyer - they got sold by the convincing statements.  Shouldn't an agent's compensation be the opposite?   How can you trust someone who's financial interests are opposed to your financial interests?

So how do you get good information?  What questions should you ask?   

There is one question that will protect you from exposure to dreaded dual agency conflicts of interest.   "Does your company have (or take) listings?"   An Exclusive Buyer Agent or Broker - answers no.   For a  "buyer agent" - the answer is yes.  

Unknown to most of the general public -- a buyer agent is "conflicted" - and can spend part of their time trying to "sell" you on their (or their company's) listed sellers.    An  agent whose company takes listings cannot guarantee that they will protect the buyer from conflicts of interest - though they call themselves a "buyer agent."  

Unfortunately - when a consumer hears "buyer agent" they just assume that they will always be fully represented.  That just isn't the case.  Once you like one of their listed properties - they are suddenly half on the seller's side - and can't tell you anything about what they know about their seller's situation, and they can't help you negotiate.  That isn't a good thing - when it is the most important financial transaction of your life....

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