When Geoffrey Egnal and his wife, Clare Geller, decided to move from Dupont Circle to the suburbs, they thought they knew what they were looking for. Turns out, Stephen Israel knew what they wanted even more than they did.
Israel is an exclusive buyer’s agent. His firm, Bethesda-based Buyer’s Edge, is one of about 500 nationwide whose charge is to represent a homebuyer’s best interests throughout the entire buying process.
“We didn’t realize the value of quietness,” said Egnal, who initially liked a house on a busy corner and another near a school, both of which Israel steered him away from. “He wasn’t impatient or pressuring us to make a sale.”
That’s one of the primary advantages of hiring a buyer’s agent, said Benjamin Clark, president of the National Association of Exclusive Buyer Agents.
“I may come across to a lot of my clients as somewhat negative because I am making sure they get the best possible house,” he said. “When I was a traditional agent I do know for a fact that there were times when I felt like a buyer was not made fully aware of all their options. I felt like the agents in general were trying to make a sale. I’m not saying that people are shady but when you’re working with an agent who isn’t your agent, they don’t necessarily have your best interests at heart.”
Buyer’s agents help clients identify locations and properties, evaluate potential homes and resale values, negotiate contracts and get their clients out of them if need be. A lot of what they do, especially for first-time buyers, is simply educating their clients about houses, contracts and settlements.
“The biggest thing we do is not necessarily finding the property,” Clark said. “With the Internet today, it’s really easy to find properties. The main thing is we represent the buyer’s best interests throughout the whole transaction.”
“Buyers agents help you evaluate properties correctly,” said Israel, who started his company 18 years ago. “It’s understanding and doing the research on comp sales data so that when you go into a neighborhood you understand the values in that community before you even walk into the first house.”
Agents often save eager buyers from themselves.
“People are driving around on a Sunday and they go to an open house and fall in love with it,” Israel said. “Then you go back home and you find out that it’s way overpriced.
Most buyer’s agents will take home shoppers to see one or two properties without making them sign an exclusive right to represent contract. Just like a listing contract protects agents who represent sellers, the buyer’s agent contract, which is set by the clients for a limited amount of time, protects the agent’s ability to get paid for what can be weeks or even months of time spent helping a single buyer.
Usually a buyer’s agent is paid by the seller via a percentage of the commission the seller pays to the listing agent. But would-be homeowners need to read the contract carefully as there are circumstances under which they may be required to pay their buyer’s agent, such as if they chose a house for sale by owner. Buyers should talk with their agent so there is no confusion over commissions and so they understand how to inform listing agents they are represented so there is no conflict on that end either.
With day-in and day-out experience, agents can save buyers money by spotting flaws in houses they often overlook.
“They don’t look at houses all day every day — we do,” Clark said. “We can often save them from getting to the point of paying a home inspector. Why continue to spend hundreds of dollars and tie yourself up in a bad property?”
The Egnals — with Israel — eventually found a home in Friendship Heights. It’s a charming small colonial with a garden for the kids, and most importantly, it’s quiet.
