A home purchase is a significant and expensive transaction with long-term financial implications. Buying a home wisely, at the right price and terms, can provide a lifetime of benefits and enjoyment! But if you overpay for a home, or choose a home that involves more upkeep than you can manage, trouble could be on the horizon.
In order to make the best possible home buying decisions, you need to have the best possible information and guidance. Using an Exclusive Buyer Agent provides you with a superior level of representation and protection. This is because an Exclusive Buyer Agent only serves the homebuyer, and focuses their expertise on the buyer’s needs and concerns.
You might come across other types of real estate “buyer agents” online who make similar claims. Not all buyer agents are Exclusive Buyer Agents. Here’s what you should know.
Any real estate agent can call themselves a “buyer agent” and provide basic home search and showing appointment services. They make promises like “helping you find your dream home.” They are not restricted to one client type or the other. In practice, they usually represent sellers.
Some “buyer agents” are “Accredited Buyer Representatives©.” The ABR© designation is a
branded specialty offered by the National Association of Realtors© (NAR.) While NAR provides buyer agent education and guidelines, they also allow these agents to have listings and represent sellers.
Other agents may work for brokerages that practice dual agency or “designated agency.”
Only an Exclusive Buyer Agent provides you with the highest level of fiduciary duty and representation. An Exclusive Buyer Agent will provide pre-purchase counseling, mortgage lender referrals, and home search and showing services for all homes on the market, not just the MLS.
As seen in The National Association of Exclusive Buyer Agents (NAEBA) website https://naeba.org/why-buyers-agency/