Would you like to have a voice in the podcast?

why you can't just go out and buy a house on your own and what actually happened

if it's something you're only going to do a certain amount of times in your life and it's big ticket item it is super important to be doing it with the guidance of somebody who does this all day, every day

you got called out for that too. Yesterday, Tom said, so I heard Seth didn't pick your offer. What a dick. I was like, I know, right?

this country has the most equitable way to transfer real estate in the world.

if you're not represented, you don't have somebody to go at bat for you.

really what this is all coming down to is about protecting your interests. Welcome back to millennia. So what are we talking about today?

The importance of having buyer representation.

So I've been doing the heavy lifting on the last few episodes. you

does your back hurt? Are you okay? Do you need a chiropractor carrying the weight of this

let's, not go there. All right. I'm simply stating that I would like to hear more from you. I feel like I've been doing a lot of the talking recently. Would you like to have a voice in the podcast? Okay.

no, you just better than I do. And I think that's perfectly fine. I've got enough opinions to go around. That's for

opinions going around. That's what do you think we want to hear

My opinions are

We, want to hear from you.

Share a lot of the same

Yeah. We actually do share a lot of the

except for elephants,

Can we get through a podcast episode without talking about elephants? the

anymore this time

Yeah. We should rename the team elephant

That would have been fun.

always rename

After all of that time of coming up with a new name, landed on SLG again.

I know.

Anyway back to buyer representation. So reasoning behind actually even having this episode I could get into the bigger meaning, but I don't think that's necessary.

focus on the facts. You can't just go out and buy a lot

why you can't just go out and buy a house on your own and what actually happened

your own way.

How would that go?

the professionals in those settings are going to eat you for lunch. And that's really what it comes down to. And I've said this multiple times. Second, only to eating about eating elephants I have said that, everyone is busy and I'm sure they're really great at what they do, but buying and selling real estate, which you're only going to do about three, four, maybe five times a year or

a year Give me a call.

if it's something you're only going to do a certain amount of times in your life and it's big ticket item it is super important to be doing it with the guidance of somebody who does this all day, every day. So just as a little history, buyer agency actually came into the fold really across the world, but mainly in the United States in the 1990s before then, what you did is you just, there was a property for sale. You went into the real estate office. There was what's called an MLS book. There was no internet yet. And essentially you went in and they showed you the book, the broker owned the book and you went and you thumbed through to find the properties that were for sale. You could also find properties. I know. And then, you also find properties for sale just with the signs.

That's crazy. I I wasn't born yet.

I remember my father when he bought, their third house in Paoli He had his real estate license. I mean he was in a different part of real estate but it was a big thing like his friend who was a realtor Let him take the book home for the night Instead of having to go like through it in front of a licensed agent like he could just he just took it home. So

that's crazy to me. Oh my God. I can't make decisions on the fly like that. And sit in front of somebody, I'd feel like I'm wasting so much of their time and just like looking, I have to look and then process and think and have my own space to do that.

Yeah, so it's a totally different situation, but in the end buyer agency came to be in the 1990s in this country where it became standard practice where a buyer and a seller each had their own agent. Before that, it was the buyer engaging the listing agent, which is the sellers agent consummate the sale. And the listing agent was, really largely represented both sides.

So it was dual agency?

It was, yeah, dual agency

not allowed

not allowed in a lot of states and it's allowed in Pennsylvania, but there's a reason why it's not allowed in a

for how much longer, I'm surprised that it is. So, for those who don't know, dual agency and the conflict around it, it's dual agency, so you're representing both parties, and agency literally means that you have a fiduciary service to them, to confidentiality, among other things, but you have to have a peer representation for each party, which is tough to do when you know, like you're bound by confidentiality, and certain things, like you know how Low the seller will go but you know how high the buyer will go But you can't use either of those things really like to better to dealer

think the legal theory is that you represent the interests of two parties that are, In opposition parts or in opposition roles, it's really hard to do. It'd be like an attorney. It's almost like a mediation type deal. But yeah, you have fiduciary through our code of ethics. You have a fiduciary responsibility. You have confidentiality, you have obedience and the ability to negotiate and represent the interests of two parties that are going against each other is very important. Very difficult. And I think it's an argue. I've done it too.

when you're, close with somebody, it gets tough.

I've done it probably six or seven times and it's been tough every time. There's always that one instance where you're just, you send a communication over to the other side and you're always like questioning are they gonna think I'm trying to represent the other

The best thing you can do is not communicate enough that you are having to protect the interests of the other person too, but also theirs, because I'm having the same conversations with the other person

But also theirs, because I'm having the the other person too. more prominent with the person that you signed the agency agreement with first. So if you're soliciting your house, you sign a a listing agreement, which is essentially a document that establishes agency. If you are working with a buyer and a buyer's agent, they sign something called a buyer agency contract and that establishes the agency. But in, when there's only one agent, They sign, whether they sign with the buyer or the seller first, they actually owe a more prominent duty to the person that they signed with first. So 95 percent of the time it was a person who had a listing contract in place, a buyer coming in secondarily, and all of a sudden then that guy has to marry the two parties. Again, it can be done. It's not illegal in every state. It's not something I like to do. I love having this team because I've done this before where I've had listing leads. I've had sign calls and I've been in and say, Hey, Jen, Julie, why don't you take this person over? So then they have their own person to, and they have to trust that we're not talking, which we don't.

And so that's

much actually to your frustration recently.

got called out for that yesterday too, by the way, you got called out for that too. Yesterday, Tom said, so I heard Seth didn't pick your offer. What a dick. I was like, I know, right?

How did he hear?

I don't know, but then everyone said the same thing.

I'm happy to show them the massive disservice I would have done to my

I know. I said he was protecting his seller

I wasn't protecting my seller.

were working

I was giving her an extra 12, thousand dollars

You were working for your seller.

working for my seller. Oh

same thing. Oh my God. So the way to go around dual agency is the designated agencies at the night. Done this for a client before too. I had a listing. We had buyers. Our buyers wanted my listing so we had designated where we designate one agent to represent them So then at that point like did I know where they stood financially? Yes, obviously we had been working with them for months but I had my fiduciary responsibility to my sellers and then from that point on we just told the lender Keep communication separate now. i'm not involved in any Talks that are going on about their financial status

but it's still Tougher. The overall point though is that this country has the most equitable way to transfer real estate in the world. Buyer agency does not exist across much of the world, and a lot of those courts are clogged up with disclosure problems.

here's what I don't like about that. So I had, and I said this on another episode before, there was one time on a Facebook group, somebody's putting up that he has an off market deal It sounds exactly like what somebody I had was looking for. And so I said, I messaged him and I said, that actually sounds exactly like what we're looking for. Can you send me some more information on that? He said that he specific after a few questions and me having to peel away at what he was actually getting at, come to find out he just didn't want the buyer to be represented. He didn't want an agent protecting a buyer because he wanted to be able to have some kind of an upper hand over them and take advantage of them. Which segues me into why we're talking about buyer representation and why it's important. For the reasons of that man, because if you're not represented, you don't have somebody to go at bat for you. First of all, there's a lot of logistics and transactional things that's a whole nother thing

but then there's just best practice.

So then there's the actual like representation part. Are you going to be doing all of your own negotiations? Do you know how to do all of your own negotiations?

You know the docs?

Do you know what a property is actually worth?

what's serious and not serious in an inspection?

Yep.

Do you understand title docs? Do you know deed package Do you know how to negotiate the best interest rate on your loan? There are a gazillion things that we do, and it pisses me off when people are like, Oh, houses sell themselves. Or Ah, this is Oh, you just open a door and then they buy the house.

too

Bless your heart.

do you know how to strengthen an offer? Do you know how to find out? What other offers that you're up against? Do you know what is more or less important to a seller and how to communicate that through an offer? that's just like putting an offer

Yeah, How many are we up to? We're like 24 tips to win a bidding war now? It's like we have all these little levers we can pull on. And like in this market, like you go in and try to, navigate that your offer is probably, you might think is going to be great cause you're saving the 3%, you can say, Oh I have no agents, so you can keep the 3%, but not right now, man. These offers are getting real. I just lost an offer. There was a hundred and one, five over ask. And like we got, and we got laughed out of the

ask was your offer?

was a hundred and one, five.

You said the winning offer was 101.

no, we put in a hundred and one five over ask and it didn't get accepted and we were laughed at. Now, the house was artificially priced low, but there

What was it actually worth?

I think the house is probably so it was listed for six. We went to seven Oh one five. Everything waved. Now listen, this is an extremely competitive part of the Philadelphia area. I just got back from the Bahamas and people were like, yep, houses are sitting for 60 90 days in certain areas of the market, in certain areas of the country.

That's not

But then there are certain pockets where that are in like little downtowns super desirable. really great schools close to lots of jobs.

Location.

are some very competitive areas. And we saw this house and I think the house is probably in, probably should have been listed for about six 50 and then driven up. I think the house will probably land somewhere in the seven, 3740 but this house needed work

I heard you and Julie talking

It was an upside down house with one living room and no primary bath Meaning you walk in and you have to walk up the stairs to all the living space

I think about groceries.

That's exactly right but in the end We tried to engage them and get them the best offer possible. But I don't know if somebody off the street would have been able to know to be like, even go to 100, and, we talked to them through the logistics of the contract. What does it mean when you waive a mortgage contingency? What can happen? How much deposit to put down?

Be able to explain the risk,

Explain the risks, the timelines the methodology, the appraisal process, like all that stuff, and

Put you into communication with the people that you actually need to be involved

And so really what this is all coming down to is about protecting your interests. the United States has somehow stumbled into the most equitable way to transfer real estate in the world. And it largely comes down to that buyer agent. The inception of the buyer agent has allowed people to very responsibly transfer real estate and keep everyone out of court. These courts are clogged up with disclosure problems, fraud, not that agents are trying to defraud, the accusation is enough to put some put asses in seats in a courtroom. And if the buyer, the buyer doesn't understand, then they're going to sue.

So this is why I, it grinds my gears, it doesn't really grind my gears cause like people don't really know any different. It's why we made the episode of what you don't do yourself. And this is why you don't contact a listing agent for a showing. And this is why you get your own representation to do a showing. Because you're going through a house, and you're like, And the listing agent's responsibility is to sell that house and sell you on that house. And don't get me wrong, I want you to have your perfect home and if you love it, that's awesome. I want you to love it with all of the information in front of you though. And to know what you are getting and things to consider so that you can plan appropriately for them. But I know what your deal breakers are and we've talked at length and I've been in multiple properties with you to know what is and what isn't important and what you can and can't do and handle. Thanks a lot. After acquiring a property, these lists, if you're going straight to the listing agent, they are responsible for getting it sold to you. Regardless. So you don't have to worry about it, but it's okay, maybe you have your buyers, like they have no responsibility to go back and see if there was ever an insurance claim that was filed against filed for the house or any previous disclosures say the house was sold a year and a half, two years ago, documents with old seller disclosures will still be in the MLS. I can go and find those and compare and contrast because the only thing that the seller is really responsible for disclosing is anything that they have knowledge of. And they could argue to say that they don't remember every single line of a disclosure from when they bought it, but I can find it.

that's absolutely true. And without a buyer's agent you don't have access to that information. I want to make it very clear, though, that we're not suggesting that if you are unrepresented, that a listing agent is going to take advantage of you. It's just that technically there's not a whole lot of duty they have to you. In fact, the more that they, help you they run that risk of not representing the interest of their client, which gets thinner ass and hot water elsewhere. Or, otherwise

I think of this as if I was the listing agent, it sounds like I'm taking a perspective as the buyer's agent and not a listing agent. But if I am a listing agent, I really want the buyer to be represented. I wouldn't want to, God, honestly, I would not want to go through a transaction. With a buyer who does not have an agent. Because they will have absolutely no idea what I'm talking about through the entire time. They want an inspection. I want to talk to an agent. I don't want to talk to you as the buyer because I know that the agent can have a relationship and have a conversation with the

a conversation with the, uh, with the inspector. But at that point, I

then at that point I am crossing into Being your representation and giving you

That's true. And then you run that risk of maybe betraying the best interest of your seller. it's what's called a Caveat Emptor which is buyer beware. There is no real obligation for that seller, that listing agent to spoon feed, guide, hold hands, do anything with the buyer outside of the idea of, the seller wants to get the deal done, because that's in the best interest of the seller, Like I said, we've done really great at carving things out, but I'll leave it on this note. Would you go and represent yourself? in court or represent yourself for your own divorce, or would you file your own taxes, or would you set up your own LLC, or would you do all these big legal functions and financial functions that you rely on for a professional to carry out for whether

getting understated that real estate has contracts binded by law and we're not lawyers. We do not give legal advice disclaimer. But we execute legal documents in Pennsylvania. But there are states

But even the intangible things like this is a big deal, your retirement, would you do your own, you direct your own 401k or do you rely on somebody who does that all day, every day, do you do legal proceedings or do you rely on people who do that all day, every day? And so the idea here is that for most

people. And we're not talking like travel court or traffic court. I'll go represent myself in traffic court. We're talking about like you're in trouble. I'm

talking about lawsuits. Business litigation like big stuff. This is a equally, we're talking about the same dollar amounts here where somebody could really make a big mistake. And for most people, contrary to what on the internet and TV guys. Most people are trying to do the best they can with the money they have and they are not rich. They don't have money to squander. They don't have money to blow. This is big deal. So definitely hire a buyer's agent. As of right now, there is a cooperation where a lot of times they will be compensated through the listing agent and the seller. So there's almost, I don't want to say free representation,

can't say free

I can't say free representation, but essentially the dynamic works that way.

Always, there are times like yesterday, I came across a listing that was only offering the sellers were only offering a buyer's agent 1%. And guess what? I had no, absolutely no problems having that conversation with my client and said, listen, just, going back to our, cause this is why I disclose everything. We have these conversations at the very get when going through the contracts that are being signed. I said, just a reminder, this is what our contract says. So sellers offering this is the part that you would be responsible for As for our agreement.

and that client is going to pay you because he knows buyers agents are worth their weight in gold and Jen is worth her weight in gold.

Oh, thanks. And because we had that conversation prior,

okay guys, I think we've wrapped this we've beaten this this elephant to death.

I knew it. There he is.

you guys.