New to market, should a buyers agent be used?

Hi Mat,

Good that you have the courage to ask the question in the first place.

You see, many people make the basic mistake of thinking they are experts at everything simply because they can do somethings really well. It’s called false confidence… or sometimes “ego”.

The dilema you face is that you might have the foundations of being a master negotiator within you but either don’t know it yet or havent developed the skill.

Therefore, the property market might not be the best place to find out as mistakes can be costly ( but not necessarily catastrophic).

Remember, most of the people you will be negotiating with, the real estate agents, are seasoned professionals and can pick a green stick a mile away.

Having said that, it usually doesn’t take too much to effort to get the “average” agent working for you and actually helping you!

Anyway, by my way of thinking is there is absolutely nothing wrong with using a buyer’s advocate / agent and I know many property experts who use them for ALL their purchases because they know the agent is far better at the “negotiation” process than they are – so it is cost effective for them to pay somebody to do that task.

So don’t get too hung up about using them or not… whatever you decide, you are not locked in for ever so you might use them initially and then later give it a shot yourself. Then in the future you might use them sometimes and not others.

Just remember that if you do use one, then it MUST be cost effective – meaning they must more than pay for themself.

My feeling is we are going to see more people using them over time and in about 10 – 15 years it might even be a case of asking why you DONT use one!

All of this is something Napoleon Hill touched on in his book “Think and Grow Rich”… surrounding yourself with experts / master mind team and stick to what you do best.

As for what a good one will cost you…. change the thinking to what will a good one SAVE you.

Their fee might be, say 1%, but if they can get the property 10% cheaper than you can and with better T&Cs than you could ever imagine… plus save you hours of time… then that sounds like a dam good deal!

Enjoy

John Blackburn
http://www.propertybooks.com.au

I’ve been using a buyer’s advocate called Peter Rogozik Property Consulting, http://www.yourbuyersadvocate.com.au/. He usually charges up to 2% of the purchase price, but is negotiable. We agreed on a set fee, as I am researching my own properties and don’t need him to do it for me. His fee covers property report, builders inspection, negotiation with vendors, auction attendance etc. In fact the only thing he doesn’t do is pest inspections (but he can arrange it for you). Peter is passionate about property, and loves his job. He’s a landlord, property developer and renovator in his own right, so he walks his talk. He is also totally independant, with no affilitation with real estate agencies or finance companies.
How do I know this paragon? He’s been my landlord for over two years [biggrin]

or you can go to realestate.com.au and click on “Find Buyer’s agent”