When purchasing a home, most people will have an opportunity to interact with one or more real estate sales people. It is very important for a home buyer to understand the roles and responsibilities of a real estate sales person, especially who they represent in the real estate transaction. This article provides a brief overview of typical representation in a real estate transaction, and describes a buyer advocate and the valuable contributions that they can make helping a home buyer to purchase a home.

Responsibility

A real estate sales person acts as an agent for one or more of the parties in a real estate transaction. An buyer advocate is an individual who works on behalf of another individual. Under the law of agency, which governs client/agent relationships, an individual acting as an agent for another individual must work to protect the best interests of their client. They are said to have a fiduciary responsibility to their client.

Real Estate Transaction

Typically in a real estate transaction, a real estate advocate will obtain a listing from the seller of a home. The realtor and seller enter into a listing agreement whereby the realtor agrees to act as the agent for the home seller to help them to sell their home. This realtor is often referred to as the listing agent, listing realtor, or listing broker.

Listing Agreement

In the listing agreement the home seller agrees to pay the listing agent for their services, typically a percentage of the selling price of the home. Since the listing agent often is not the individual to actually sell a home, the home seller also typically agrees to pay the agent who actually sells their homefor their services, also typically a percentage of the selling price of the home.

Many buyers mistakenly assume they are being represented by the real estate advocate who is showing them homes, when in fact that individual is usually working for the home seller. For this reason, many states require by law that real estate sales people disclose who they are working for to all parties to a real estate transaction at the beginning of any relationship.

Experienced Buyer Advocate

Many home purchasers are not happy with the typical arrangement whereby real estate agents are representing the seller, and they are left to represent themselves. Many home buyers prefer to have a trained, experienced real estate professional representing them in their real estate transactions. It is for this reason that many home buyers choose to hire a buyer's agent.

Conclusion

A buyer's advocate is an individual who is hired by a home buyer to represent them in a real estate transaction. Similar to a home seller, a buyer typically enters into a contract with the buyer's advocate. The contract should stipulate what services the buyers advocate will provide, and what compensation the home buyer will give to the buyer's advocate if they successfully help them to purchase a home. Buyer's advocate compensation is typically a percentage of a home selling price.