Buyers Agent Questions

Hi, I have some questions regarding buyers agent, I'm seriously considering to use buyers agent service but I have some questions I need to clarify:
-) Do we pay the agent before or after we buy the property?
-) Will the agent go to property auctions and bid on our behalf? Do they charge extra for that or that's included in their fee?
-) Do we need to sign a contract with the buyers agent before we get things started?
-) How far to the purchasing process does the buyers agent get involved? do they just find the property or do they also handle negotiating with real estate agents and vendors as well?
-) What happened if the buyer agents cannot find a property that we like after a period of 6 months for example, do we still pay them? How does it work?
 
Hi, I have some questions regarding buyers agent, I'm seriously considering to use buyers agent service but I have some questions I need to clarify:
I fell somewhat qualified to answer your Qs :)

-) Do we pay the agent before or after we buy the property?
You pay a non-refundable upfront engagement fee (or retainer). Typically $1,000 - $2,000 + some GST if the BA is registered for that.

-) Will the agent go to property auctions and bid on our behalf?
Yes.

Do they charge extra for that or that's included in their fee?
They charge to go to auctions and bid ONLY if that is all you want them to do. If it is just part of a full search then normally there would be no charge to go to an auction as that is just the vendor's chosen method of sale.

-) Do we need to sign a contract with the buyers agent before we get things started?
Yes, you sign an agreement with a BA just as a seller would sign a selling agency agreement with a REA.

-) How far to the purchasing process does the buyers agent get involved?
At whatever point you choose.
There are full search options where you just tell the BA what you want and how much you're prepared to pay. Then there are options where you search for the property yourself but get the BA involved to do the evaluations (on price you should pay) and the negotiations. Then there is just the auction bidding service. There would be a few variations on this theme.

do they just find the property or do they also handle negotiating with real estate agents and vendors as well?
As above. Most BAs would want to handle the negotiations as they do this every day of the week for a living.

-) What happened if the buyer agents cannot find a property that we like after a period of 6 months for example, do we still pay them?
It depends on your agreement. Some BA agreements can be extended by mutual agreement. If you want to terminate the agreement yourself after the BA has done a lot of work, you might get charged a termination fee. Sort this out before you sign up with any BA so you are clear on it.
It has never happened to us, I suppose because we do a feasibility first (before entering an agreement) to see if we think we can actually achieve what a client wants.

All the best.
 
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-) What happened if the buyer agents cannot find a property that we like after a period of 6 months for example, do we still pay them? How does it work?

This really shouldn't happen if you are ready to buy and have set reasonable criteria for the BA to work with.

I think it took 3 weeks for my BA to find me a good deal. But I estimate it would take me personally 3 months to find just an average deal :D
 
thanks propertunity, that clarified things.

I guess the next question is does anyone knows a good buyers agent for st.george, inner west and west area of sydney that i can contact? Thanks in advance, I appreciate the recommendations.
 
Hi 888

Alan's done a great job of answering your questions and they're not uncommon to purchasers wanting to know how we operate as BA's :)

I have an FAQ section on my site that answers such questions that you may find useful. Also am expanding to the Inner West soon with more BA staff so drop us a line if you like. Wait period a few weeks but we do provide a very personalised service as we only take on a handful of clients at a time. We don't do St George area but do cover Western suburbs - which specific suburbs were you interested in here? Parra? Blacktown? Penrith? The West is a big place :D
 
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