The Role of a Realtor

Here is a partial transcript from a live radio interview Jim McCaughan, of Landmark Realty, performed on May 18 on Evolution 107.9 FM. The interview aired on the program Making Contact with host Kim Robertson. The focus of the interview: getting into the housing market.

Q: What’s the role of the real estate agent?

A: There are three things that a REALTOR® mainly provides and they are: advice, expertise in the market and probably most importantly, our negotiation skills. A REALTOR® is actually your business partner. Realizing that you’re making one of the largest financial transactions that most people will ever make, it’s our job to guide you through this.

Q: There are two types of real estate agents. We’ve got the buyer’s agent and then the seller’s agent. Give us an idea of what the role of each agent is.

A: A REALTOR®’s job is to promote and protect the interests of their client, whether it be the buyer or the seller. In fact, the relationship that we operate under is called agency and through that we are required to protect and promote the best interests of the client. If we represent the seller, we want to obtain the highest possible offer, with the current market conditions. And when we work for buyers, we’re attempting to get the buyer the best property that meets their needs.

Q: What are some of the advantages to actually using a real estate agent as opposed to if I’m selling my property, going it alone and doing a for-sale-by-owner?

A: The advantages of a REALTOR® are that if you’re the seller, trying to sell your home is not easy for a lot of people. The majority of people want to have the professional guidance and expertise of a REALTOR®. We help people set the right price, which is very important because if you over-price a property you probably won’t sell it, and if you under-price a property you probably will lose money.
Also, exposure to the world is very important. We have one of the most valuable marketing tools out there called mls.ca. It’s one of the most used websites of its kind in the world.

Q: If somebody is going to choose to try and tackle selling their home on their own, what are some of the things they should be cautious about?

A: Most people are not in a position to negotiate face to face like they can when they have someone who’s their advocate. The nice part about a real estate agent is that they can be the go-between, whereas when you’re dealing directly with somebody, whether it’s the buyer or the seller, it’s a bit hard to open their closets while they’re standing there showing you the property. It’s a little bit easier when you have a professional REALTOR® guiding you.

Q: Who would be writing the offer in this case, if you’re selling your home privately, do you go to a lawyer to write the offer… Or…?

A: I haven’t had any experience in that as a private seller. I would assume people try to write their own offers, but it’s critical to be able to write an offer that’s legal and binding. There needs to be some protections in there, most especially for the buyer, to allow them to do their due diligence and these are all the things that REALTORS® are trained to do. We’re highly skilled at being able to write a contract that is binding for both parties and gives both protections.

Q: What seems to be the buyer’s expectations of an agent?

A: We are expected to be able to understand the needs and the wants of a buyer. We look at: What does a buyer want? What can they afford to buy? And, what’s available? Also, we negotiate on behalf of our client the best price and the best terms available, but some of the most valuable work that REALTORS® do and I think this will be surprising to many buyers, is after the contract is negotiated and signed.

Things like helping to arrange for financing, for home inspections and if it’s a strata, which of course in the Lower Mainland there’s a lot of, we need to do a lot of due diligence with the leaky condo crisis we had a few years ago still having implications. We get 24 months of the minutes, the financials, the bylaws, the rules and regulations and one of our jobs is to help our buyers understand those. So, those are all some of the things that REALTORS® have value in providing to the public.

Source: Jim McCaughan-Landmark Realty Corp.

David Shieh

Posted by David Shieh- Abbotsford Real Estate Agent