Register Real Estate Advisors

If you’ve started looking for a home-and a real estate professional to assist you-your buyer’s representative may ask you to sign a Buyer Representation Agreement. What is this form? Why should you sign it?
A Buyer Representation Agreement is a legal document that formalizes your working relationship with a particular buyer’s representative, detailing what services you are entitled to and what your buyer’s rep expects from you in return. While the language used in the document is formal, homebuyers should view it as an important and helpful tool for clarifying expectations, developing mutual loyalty, and most importantly, elevating the services you will receive.
1. Receive a higher level of service. If you’ve formalized an agency relationship with a buyer’s rep, you can expect to be treated like a client instead of a customer. What’s the difference? Clients are entitled to superior services, relative to scustomers. While the details vary from state to state, and from one buyer’s agent to another, you can generally assume that being a client means that you’ve formed a fiduciary, or agency, relationship with your buyer’s rep.
2. Get more without paying more. In almost every case, home sellers have already agreed to pay a buyer’s agent’s commission. If they haven’t you can ask your buyer’s rep to avoid showing you any such homes. Or you can still view the home, knowing that you’ll need to factor your agrent’s commission into any offer you may write. While buyers rarely pay rela estate commissions, this is an important details you’ll want to discuss with your buyer’s rep and clarify in their representation agreement.
3. Avoid misunderstandings. A Buyer’s Representation Agreement clarifies expectations, helping you understand what you should and shouldn’t expect from your buyer’s rep, and what they will expect from you, which usually centers on loyalty.
4. Agency relationships are based on mutual consent. While most representation agreements specify a time period, they can be terminated early if both parties consent. Most buyer’s reps are willing to end the agreement early if the working relationship isn’t going well. Some buyer’s reps also offer representation agreements for as little as one day, for the purpose of giving both parties a brief trial period to explore working together.
5. Strength as a team. When you and your buyer’s rep work together within a formalized agency relationship, you have created a team dedicated to helping you achieve the best possible home-buying experience.
The ABR designation is awarded by The Real Estate Buyer’s Agent Council (REBAC), a subsidiary of the National Association of Realtors (NAR). This information was obtained from the REBAC website. Note that not every state requires a signed Buyer’s Representation Agreement to create an agency relationship. In some cases, an agency relationship can be formed if both parties simply behave as if one exists. I hold the ABR designation because I feel it is so important for my buying clients. I want to represent them better than anyone else can!

A $200,000 home costs more than a $185,000 home, right? Well, yes and no. Assuming the same type of financing for both homes, the $200,000 home does cost more initially. But many factors contribute to the overall long-term cost of a house. Here are some things to keep in mind when trying to determine the true cost of purchasing a particular home:

• Does it have a pool or hot tub that requires maintenance?
• How much yard maintenance is required and who will perform it?
• Are there trees that should be removed?
• What are the utility costs? Although your usage won’t be exactly the same as the current owners, you may be able to get their utility bills for the past year from them or directly from the utility company.
• How soon will the roof need to be replaced?
• Does the house need repainting?
• Does the electrical system need upgrading to handle the load for your appliances and electronics?
• Does the home have aluminum wiring, lead-based paint, or other safety or health hazards you will want to address?
• Does the house need new carpeting or flooring?
• What remodeling projects do you see as a must?
• Will appliances need replacing?
• What are the estimated property taxes for the property?

Also, be sure to get a professional inspection to identify other potentially costly problem areas.

2004 by the Texas Association of Realtors, All rights reserved.

As a Texas Realtor, I can assist you with this important decision.
Buying a house is a big step. The right time to take this leap depends on your financial and personal situation as well as your goals. If you are considering buying a house now, here are some strong reasons why the timing could be right:

• Housing prices in Texas have been steadily rising at a moderate pace for many years, even while other states have experienced wild price fluxuations.
• The tax credit still applies to some, inquire to find out more.
• Other Texas-specific programs can lower your interest rate or provide additional tax-credit incentives.
• Interest rates are at or near record lows. Even small reductions in the interest rate can significantly boost the purchase price you can afford whn buying a home.
• Texas has one of the most affordable housing markets compared to household income, according to the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University.
• Our state’s economy is strong and diverse, and the population is expected to continue growing steadily. These factors all point to continued health in the housing market.

As a Texas Realtor, I can show you how our current housing-market conditions factor in to your goal of buying a home. You can count on me to put your interests first while I assist you during this exciting process. I can show you any house on the market!

This information and more can be found on the TexasRealEstate.com website.