Why use a Buyer's agent when buying new construction or from a new development

Hey all,

I get asked all the time, "Why do I need a buyers agent when I am buying new construction and there is a sales team there?" Well my friends the answer is so incredibly simple, THEY DO NO REPRESENT YOU, THEY REPRESENT THE BUILDER OR DEVELOPMENT COMPANY!

It is not like the people at the sales office are not nice or good people, that is not it. They were hired by the builder or development company to close deals and to close alot of them. The level of complexity is so much higher when buying new construction. Are you buying in Phase 1, Phase 2 or Phase 3? Are you asking yourself right now, "what is phase 1?"

The development you potentially are buying in could be at any one of those phases and you may not know which way the market is heading for this specific neighborhood and you could be potentially entering into a contract on a property that 6 months from now could be 1.) Not finished yet 2.) not even started or 3.) seriously overvalued at that point.

The obvious is to use a local buyer's agent who knows the local market and can help you with making an offer you are comfortable with that will get your offer accepted and you not over pay.

Let's remember one hugely important detail that many people seem to forget: The Seller in most transactions pays the buyer's agent! How does that work? The seller hires a sellers agent and the sellers agent offers a commission for introducing a buyer to the property! This is common knowledge amongst real estate professionals but I still think that most of the general public does not understand this so let's go into a few details on why having a buyer's agent when purchasing new construction or in a new development in Massachusetts is incredibly beneficial to a buyer.

1.) The seller is going to pay the buyer's agent's commission. So you do not spend any money on that and you get honesty, disclosure, accountability, and a trusted advisor who has your fiduciary interests at heart.

2.) A buyer's agent will make sure you remain in contract if you end up entering one. Worried about financing come through? A buyer's agent will make sure that when the time comes for a loan commitment letter you either have it or he/she will write a termination agreement before your commitment due date so your LARGE deposit is protected.

3.) The sales person at the new development is there to facilitate the deal, they may not even me a licensed realtor. They are there to help with upgrades like cabinets and countertops and keeping the builder happy.

4.) The buyer's agent knows the local market. You may be buying from a national corporation who may have a limited amount of knowledge in the area. Consult a local real estate professional before heading over to the development

5.) "But I am not ready to have a buyer's agent" I have scene this scenario play out lots of times before. Johnny and Suzy home shopper are reading the Sunday paper and come across and advertisement for a new development in their county. "Why don't we go check it out, we have no plans today" As soon as they go to the development and sign in, they can no longer use a buyer's agent in that transaction and may be entering into the largest decision of their life with no one representing them!

This blog post is in no way directed to "knocking" Sales teams at new development's, they are all most likely great people with great ethics but if you were to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on a property, wouldn't you want someone to protect that investment? Especially if you are not paying for it?