Kiplingers Personal Finance - Use an Exclusive Buyer Agent

A recently Kiplingers article talks about the benefits of consumers using an Exclusive Buyer Agent.

Another Kiplingers article interviews five Exclusive Buyer Agents from around the country - on what the "buyers market" looks like in their area.

And the Kiplinger link to negotiating a good purcahse contract with a home builder.

We don't ever have our buyer clients accept builder financing for goodies. They get the goodies - and we help our clients shop for the best loan - which may or may not be the lender that the builder is tied to (usually not.)

Unlike other agents - we know how to analyze a Good Faith Estimate for our buyer clients - and we take the time to shop for the best loan for our client. On average - we save our clients $30,000 or more over the life of the loan.

Loan Shopping Pays Off

One thing we ALWAYS do for our home buyer clients is help them shop for the best lender - by analyzing good faith estimates from different lenders - and helping the buyer pick the lender with the best rates & fees. Lenders hate it - but our buyer clients love it! On average - we save our buyer clients $20,000-$30,000 or more over the life of the loan - just by "shopping the loan." Time consuming? Yes. But it is worth it - for our client's sake.... And in appreciation - they give us a lot of referrals from doing things like this - that traditional agents typically don't do.

Sadly - most Real Estate agents don't even know how to analyze a good faith estimate - to ferret out junk fees.... Some agents may not even know what a "yield spread premium" (YSP) is...

(You may want to ask them when you interview them)

Many agents refer their client to an in-house lender (stating that "it will be convenient for you" - they are right here..) - where perhaps their brokerage gets some benefit from that (rent from the lender or an LLC profit sharing agreement etc.) That isn't being a true fidicuary for the buyer.