Real Estate Agent Representation
Which party in a real estate transaction is represented by the real estate agent–the buyer or the seller? In any real estate transaction, you have the right to know which party the real estate agent is representing. Your Realtor will have you sign an Agency Disclosure. This form will be presented to you upon first substantial contact. It will indicate if your Realtor is representing you as a Buyer’s Agent, Seller’s Agent, Broker’s Agent, Dual Agent or Dual Agent with Designated Sales Agent.
The definitions in this document and your Realtor will be happy to explain these to you in more depth.
Patience is Required
Sellers often have to deal with a buyer’s anxiety. For example, you may have reached an agreement with your buyers and signed the paperwork for the sale of your home. After all of the documents were signed, however, the buyers began to behave strangely, getting somewhat agitated and making additional demands.
It is important to remember that people experience a high level of stress when they are buying a house. Your buyers may be suffering from “Buyer’s Remorse”– that intense feeling that they have paid too much and that the house is going to fall down as soon as they assume ownership. They may start questioning the fine points of the structural integrity of your home or ask you to include your new washer and dryer and power mower in the transaction.
Don’t take it personally if your buyers begin going through the “home-buying jitters”. Be patient, and allow the real estate agent to do whatever “hand holding” is necessary to get the buyers happily settled in your home.
Buyer’s Remorse
If you are like most buyers who sign a purchase agreement on a new home, you will almost certainly feel a wave of overwhelming anxiety. You may begin to question your judgement — did I pay too much? Is it the right home? Can I really afford the mortgage payments? How can I get out of it?
This response–referred to as “Buyer’s Remorse”–is completely normal!
Call your friends who have owned a home for a few years if you experience an attack of buyer’s remorse. Are they bothered by rapidly escalating home prices? Probably not, because that means the value of their home is increasing. Did they feel anxious when they first signed the agreement?
They may tell you that they felt just as anxious as you are feeling, but now are really glad that they went through with the purchase. Have they made improvements to the property that heightened their enjoyment of the home? They will probably say they much prefer the creative freedom of being a homeowner compared with having to ask the landlord’s permission to put in a garden or paint the living room.
When you experience a buyer’s panic attack, be strong — you have a great deal to gain!
Buyers and sellers are both susceptible to different forms of stress reaction known in the real estate field as “Buyers’ Remorse” and “Sellers’ Remorse”. Fortunately, neither one of these conditions is contagious to real estate agents! An important part of our job is to help our sellers and buyers through their buying or selling jitters with understanding and humor.
The Closing Process
If you are selling your house, you may have to jump through a few hoops between the time you and the buyer reach an agreement and the time the money and deed change hands. The structural inspector usually finds a few things that need to be repaired or replaced, and the pest inspection may reveal the presence of unwanted “residents”. Many buyers may also have a list of items that they want the seller to fix.
If you are buying a new home the time between signing a purchase offer and the time the deed changes hands can be just as stressful. Hours may be spent gathering financial paperwork, past tax returns and verifying employment history. No mortgage was ever received overnight; be patient. Just remember this is not a good time to finance any additional purchases.
