This is the fourth installment in an on-going series of articles dedicated to helping First Time Home Buyers successfully achieve their home ownership goals. We have been identifying and discussing key events in the home buying process.

So far in this process, you’ve selected your Mortgage Lender, determined the loan product you will use and identified the associated price range of homes to fit your budget. Then, you interviewed several candidates and have chosen a great Real Estate Agent to work on your behalf. This time, we’ll discover what to expect during the first meeting with your agent.

“Exchanging Your Vows”

Okay, so we’re not getting married, BUT . . . One of the most important and fundamental purposes of the initial meeting with your Real Estate Agent should be to discuss and sign a Buyer’s Agency Agreement. This is a contract that accomplishes several purposes:

• It empowers Your Agent to legally represent you in the purchasing process.
• It demonstrates your commitment to your Agent and the value you place on the services they will provide.
• It equally conveys Your Agent’s commitment to you; to professionally serve your best interests; and to fulfill all the duties, obligations, and responsibilities of a licensed real estate agent.

Make sure that your agent provides you with a copy of the Buyer’s Agency Agreement and explains it completely. You may not feel comfortable signing this agreement during your very first meeting with your agent, but you should make it a goal to sign it as early on in the process as possible.

Your agent should also provide you with a copy of ‘Working With A Realtor’. This pamphlet will share the various relationships that can exist in a real estate transaction, and the duties/responsibilities of licensed agents are obligated to perform in each of those relationships.

Next, your agent should talk you through the entire home buying process, start to finish. Most agents utilize good visuals during this process to make the information easier to understand and digest. Be sure to ask any and all questions during this time.

Now comes the time for you to discuss your home buying wants and needs. Hopefully, you’ve had time to discuss this at length prior to this first meeting. The more detailed and specific you can be on what you want and need in a home, the better equipped your Agent will be in finding just the right home. Depending on your budget, and what is currently available on the market, you may need to pare down your wants list somewhat, and focus more on your expressed needs.

Your Agent may take time this time to show you how the Multiple Listing Service works and create a custom search just for you based on your specific requirements. With the detailed information you have provided, you can begin to identify potential properties to go tour.

During this initial meeting, be sure to share with your Agent the best methods of communicating with you during the course of the home buying process. Is it best to contact you on your cell phones? Can they call you at work? What e-mail addresses are best for sending you new listings from the MLS database? This information is especially helpful if you are an out-of-town buyer.

AN IMPORTANT NOTE:

Some people feel that they do not need to, or have to, sign a Buyer Agency Agreement with a Realtor. They come to this opinion through a number of sources:

• Maybe their friend just bought a house and didn’t think they signed one. They did, or their agent’s company (presuming they followed the rules we are required to work under) is risking a big fine.

• Possibly a lawyer told them not to. Believe it or not, lawyers are not God, and often do not understand many things to do with a real estate transaction, especially the contracts!

• Perhaps they read it in the paper.

What I don’t understand is that people should have any issue with signing an agreement that spells out the responsibilities of the parties to that agreement. It only makes sense.

Perhaps a key point about the representation agreement is that, in this market area anyway, if you have not signed one and your agent tells the truth to the listing companies when she calls to book showings, the listing companies will not allow the showings to occur. This is because, absent you being represented by an agent, the listing company and the seller are liable for any incorrect information given you by the agent you are working with. And they will not knowingly accept that responsibility.

Now you should be ready to actually go out and look at some homes, the next exciting step in your First Time Home Buying Adventure!

The articles in this series were inspired by an excellent real estate agent in Seattle, Washington, Rich Jacobson of Windermere Real Estate