Real Estate Exclusive Buyer
Agents - The Difference
Buy Home, First Time, Home
Buyer, San Jose, Santa Clara, Silicon Valley and Beyond
What is different about an Exclusive
Buyer Agent?
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The main difference between a local
real estate brokerage set up for Exclusive Buyer Agency and a traditional
real estate office is the amount of representation a home buyer will get.
This is especially important to a first time home buyer who is completely
naiive about the real estate system. Our service to any home buyer who
wants to buy a home extends to 6 different counties, another major difference.
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A true Exclusive Buyer Agent is very
strictly consumer oriented. Our national membership organization, NAEBA,
does not allow us to represent sellers or to market their properties. There
can never be a question about our commitment and loyalty to our clients.
We believe in "What can I do to best serve the interests of my client
above and beyond my personal interests?" Our agreement with each
home buyer promises to help them get a property at the best price and terms
for them. An ordinary agent's agreement with sellers promises to sell for
the best price and terms for the seller. Most buyers don't think about
this until it is pointed out to them. A national survey a few years back
showed that a large majority of recent home buyers thought the traditional
agent working with them had actually been representing them.
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Ordinary real estate agencies are mostly
seller oriented. Until the late 1980's the common theme was caveat
emptor, or let the buyer beware. Everything about the business
from paperwork to agent training was geared toward how to best serve sellers
and how to sell or convince buyers to buy a particular home, even
if they didn't want it. This theme continues with most ordinary brokerages
today even though agency laws have changed.
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The written contract between the listing
brokerage and each seller in effect promises that the listing company
and all its agents will do their best to sell the property at the highest
price and the best terms for the seller. Exclusive Buyer
Agents will do their best to help clients buy a home at the best price
and terms for the buyer. Since we as individuals, as well
as our companies are not allowed to represent sellers, we never have a
conflict of interest.
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It is a relatively new practice, exclusive
buyer agency, strongly opposed by some in our profession. We do not fit
into their description as "a network of thousands of agents working hand
in hand as a team to sell homes". Talk to EBA clients and you will
know that we provide a valuable service and we do not sell homes.
We provide an abundance of information and expertise while helping clients
buy
a home. This is a major change in the way the real estate business is done.
As we in the National Association of Exclusive Buyer Agents pioneer the
concept of exclusive buyer agency, we are reminded of this:
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"We're a fortunate bunch;
we earn a decent living from a concept totally without shadows, where we
harm none and empower all we serve to live better lives! In a world where
it's tough to be a pioneer, we are in a position to make a difference,
in the lives of those we serve, in the American institution of home ownership
and in a major nation-wide profession." - - - Merrill Ottwein,
former president of NAEBA.
