THE MARKET

WHAT IS A BUYER BROKER AND WHY SHOULD YOU CARE?

Buyers are well advised to find an agent who has the skills, experience, and a verifiable track record of success because advice and counsel is only as good as the person giving it. Finding a skilled broker is very important but difficult. Personal service providers are very hard to evaluate because you don’t know what you don’t know. The selection process should not be a popularity contest but rather an evaluation based upon MERIT and TRUST which is what really matters. Looking for an agent when all you want to do is to find the right property may seem counterintuitive, yet it’s the people you hire; not market share or international reach that makes the difference. Misguided strategies, perfectly executed, still produce misguided results so be patient and thorough given your investment of time and money.

True buyer-brokers are rare and hard to find because every agent will tell you they are one. When you understand the laws of agency, know what questions to ask, and can impartially assess who is good and who isn’t based on merit, that the ideal relationship can be created. It’s not the brand, it’s not market share or international reach, it’s not the number of agents or offices; it’s the person that make the difference.

Advice, counsel, negotiating, and process management skills are what matter. A recent Ivy League collegiate study found that one of the most difficult decisions for consumers involves selecting intellectual property service providers which is an intangible hard to understand quality.

Buyer-brokers have been typically paid by sellers since the beginning of time. Recent court rulings now prohibit listing agents from addressing buyer broker compensation. Sellers have the option to ignore this issue but in reality the playing field has not fundamentally changed but could. Buyers should engage a fiduciary agent acting on their behalf since typically there are no cost savings when dealing directly with a listing broker — who is probably the last person a buyer should rely on, given the inherent conflicts of interest. By law, listing brokers work for the sellers. They are inclined to focus their own listings, do not educate the public, and don’t really care about your personal goals and objectives. They are there to sell whatever the buyer is willing to buy.

We recommend you talk to industry professionals before plunging into the Vail Valley real estate market. Find the right agent and they will find you the right home. It’s pretty much that simple.