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Questions To Ask An Agent When Buying A Home

What percentage of your real estate transactions in the last year was helping clients to buy?

Most of the agents try to do more listings - meaning getting house listings from Sellers. The reason is that when the agent has a listing, it is for usually 90 days or so. That means if the house is sold, the agent gets paid during this listing period. But when an agent is working for a Buyer as a Buyer Agent, a lot of time, there is no contract to bound the Buyer to buy the house from this agent. If the Buyer happens to see a house from an advertisement of another agent, or see a for sale sign contacting that agent and then buying it, that Buyer Agent would have wasted all his/her time showing houses to that Buyer before.
It is becoming more common that Agents ask for a Buyer Agency Agreement so that he/she has some assurance that his/her time would not be wasted when working for the Buyer.
The answer to this question is that there is no fixed percentage. Every agent is different.
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Any evidence that you have to substantiate your answer above?

If the agent is willing to show it to you, from the copies of Agreement of Purchase and Sale (or it is called Offer), or the copies of Trade Record Sheet (that shows the details of each transaction for agents and his/her office internal use), it shows whether on that transaction the agent acted as a Seller Agent or a Buyer Agent.
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What is the most important thing to you when you start working for me?

(a) If the answer is Find you a house, or Find you a right house, it means the agent cares about his/her commission as first priority.
(b) The best answer is to look after your interest when finding you a house.

If you see a Private Sale, and you know that you get no commission from that Seller, what would you do?
If that agent is your Buyer Agent, whether there is contract (Buyer Agency Agreement) signed or not, the agent is supposed to put the Buyers interest first before anybody, except the Law. So, the agent is supposed to tell you, and show you that house. The agent, however, can make arrangement with the Seller or Buyer to pay him/her commission. If there is a previous Agreement that the Buyer do not pay commission, and if the Buyer is willing to make it an exception, do revision on the Agreement.
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What if the Seller agrees to pay the Buyer Agent commission, but needs to increase the price to reflect the commission, and the Buyer knew about the lower price selling private?

It would be up to the Buyer which way he/she wants to proceed.
The agent could lose out working for nothing.
The Buyer and the Seller could work out a smaller flat fee for the agent’s work.
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How do I know that it is now good time to buy?

If the house is for the Buyer and the family to live in, usually any time is good when they are ready. The simple reason is that why pay landlord the rent when the rental will give the tenant nothing back in return. Houses in a long run always appreciate in value. So the sooner you buy, the better it is for you.
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Do you charge me commission, and if so, at what rate?

Usually, the Buyer Agent do not charge the Buyer commission for finding him/her a house.
However, under some circumstances, as in Question (4), a Buyer might be willing to pay commission.
Also in some Commercial real estate transactions, buyers also might be willing to pay the Buyer Agent commission.
There is no fixed rate.
For residential, if the norm commission paid by Sellers is 6%, the Buyer Agent might charge 3%, because most of other houses he/she is helping the Buyer to buy, the commission is 12 of the 6% anyhow.
For commercial, depending on how high is the price, the rate varies accordingly.
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Am I obligated to you only seeing houses? Or any contract involved when you work with me?

If the Buyer has signed a contract or Buyer Agency Agreement with the agent, then the Buyer is obligated to see houses with that agent only. It might also mean that if the Buyer sees a house for sale Private, the Buyer is also obligated to tell his/her agent, depending on the nature of that Agreement. Whether the agent gets paid or not is another matter.
Whether there is contract involved would depend on the local common practice.
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If there is a contract involved, and if I am not satisfied with you, how can I protect myself?

Insist on a Service Guarantee in writing. It is becoming more and more common. Before you sign a contract or Buyer Agency Agreement, have this Service Guarantee signed by the agent first, that if you are not satisfied with him/her, you can CANCELL that contract, and you can go with another agent. Back to Top

Are there any incentives given by government, or some agencies, when I am buying a home?

Yes, there are, depending on the State or Province you are in.
The agent working for you should be able to tell you.
It could be a low down payment plan supported by a semi-government agency to encourage home ownership.
It could be something using your retirement saving plan money used as down payment
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I am a first time home buyer, am I entitled to more incentives?

It could be.
It could be a sales tax rebate.
It could be a Land Transfer Tax rebate program.
Again, it depends on which State or Province you are in. Ask the agent working for you.
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I was told that most of time, it is the Seller paying the Buyer's Agent commission. If that is the case, how can you work for me?

A lot of time, that is the case.
If at the beginning, there is a Buyer Agency Agreement signed by both you, the Buyer, and the agent, Agreement says that the agent works for you, even though he/she might be paid by the Seller.

It might say it on the Offer (Agreement of Purchase and Sale)
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Something called 'Dual Agent' who represents both the Buyer and the Seller. How is it possible?

When a Seller Agent is advertising the house for the Seller. Or he/she is doing a Open House for the Seller. After a Buyer looks at the house, and he/she wants to buy that house, the Buyer usually does not have an agent to represent him/her. For that reason, the Seller Agent could also represent that Buyer. Since the agent is representing both parties, the agent is called Dual Agent. Lots of time, this is allowed by the local State or Provincial law. Usually, there are also strict regulations to go with it to ensure that no Seller’s or Buyer’s interest are jeopardized.
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Are you a full-time agent, or part-time agent?

It is harder to tell, if the agent does not advertise on the local newspaper consistently.
Checking with the agent’s office is possible, if they tell you the truth.
If the agent is willing to show you the documents confirming how many houses he/she has sold last year, it could be an indication.
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Is Home Inspection by a professional needed after we have purchased a house? Who pays for the cost?

It is strongly recommended.
There are too many things in a house that an ordinary person simply cannot see that might be defective. It is well worth the money, after you have decided to pay tens of thousands of dollars for the house.
It is the Buyer paying for the cost.
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Does Title Insurance concern me?

It is an insurance coverage for all title-related risks for a home buyer. It could be zoning, unavailability of the survey of the house, conflicting ownership claims, undischarged mortgage, or liens.
Usually, the Buyer lawyer recommends it, to ensure the transaction is close successfully.
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How do I know where the low cost, or government subsidized housings are, so that I can avoid those areas?

You can check with the government housing department.
The local police station might be able to tell you, when you are considering one local neighborhood.
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I was told to avoid areas near Hydro Electric Wire, why?

There are concerns that Hydro Electric Wire might cause cancer.
Some studies suggest so. Others suggest otherwise.
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I was told to avoid buying a house with swimming pool, why?

Some parents are concern the safety of their children.
There is no definite answer for it.
In Los Angeles, houses without swimming pools might worth less, simply because it is an asset in such hot climate.
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I was told to avoid buying a house in a corner, why?

Some people feel that:
it is more noisy, because you have traffic from 2 streets;
there is more work, because usually the property is bigger, and you need to mow more lawn, or shuffle more snow;
there is less privacy, because the backyard is exposed to one side of the street.
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Do I pay any sales tax buying a house? It could cost a lot.

Usually there is a sales tax when a Buyer is buying a house.
But it is not the same sales tax rate as you buy anything else.
Some governments call it Land Transfer Tax.
For the average price house, the rate is about 1% of the price of the house.
The higher the house price is, usually the higher is the rate.
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