Buying a home can be complicated with the switching of first-time home buyers tax rules. Sometimes a real estate agent isn’t up to speed on all the rules. Having an Exclusive Buyers Agent is a smart bet.
The National Association of Exclusive Buyers Agents (NAEBA) announced today that home buyers have more to weigh than the tax incentive in 2010. While buyers have more inventory from which to choose than ever before, the downside is that they have to scrutinize their purchase more thoroughly prior to purchase. That’s because home systems–plumbing, heating, electrical and appliances–are designed to run 24/7 while occupied. When homes sit empty and are shown only periodically, the systems don’t get the workout they’re engineered to do and that can cause some systems to fail. That’s the reason 80% more sellers are buying home service contracts than even two years ago, according to the National Home Service Contract Association. When toilets aren’t flushed multiple times daily or electrical systems are left dark for days and weeks on end, systems break down. Service contracts can cost between $350 and $500 and while they don’t cover structural problems or pre-existing conditions or some aspects of repair, they do generally cover appliances, plumbing and heating and cooling systems.
Buyers who are represented by real estate agents who are members of NAEBA (https://www.NAEBA.org) can rest assured that their Exclusive Buyers Agent will suggest every means of protecting them in a purchase. That may include recommending purchase of a home service contract, a move that can save buyers untold expense post-sale.
For buyers who’ve never used the services of a Real Estate Agent previously, that begs the question: What does a real estate agent responsible for anyway? Recently, Boston.com’s contributing writer Sam Schneiderman, posed that same question, concluding: “Agents and brokers are all expected to help their clients buy or sell property, but in reality, the way that each agent goes about it, and the amount of time that each one contributes towards getting the job done, can vary dramatically from agent to agent.” The difference runs even deeper when weighing the advantages of using an Exclusive Buyers Agent.
NAEBA agents do not list homes; they represent buyers only. The NAEBA premise is that no one real estate agent can do both well. Listing agents promote the properties they list because that’s how they make a living, not because the home they’re promoting to buyers is quintessentially ideal for the buyers’ desires. Exclusive Buyers Agents, on the other hand, happily show buyers potential homes to buy without compromising their inventory because they hold no inventory.