Transparency is the Mecca of the business process. When customers have limited information, they are always at a disadvantage.

• How have you felt as you’ve worked with a realtor? 

• Was the information you received sufficient enough to make an informed decision?

When realtors work with you, obviously realtors have to distinguish between enough information and information overload. In normal practice, the realtor will want to impress you and show you information that will attract your attention. 

What’s the most important thing a buyer needs to know? 

1. Features that you like about the property 

2. Looking at the price of comparable properties 

3. The amount of money you’re willing to offer for the property

4. Some aspects of the contract that protect your interests

5. And in some cases, you’ll need to get a home inspection 

When you make an offer, you can follow a few simple rules. If you follow these rules, everyone can be an expert when deciding how much you want to pay and making the offer. Deciding the price for a property and making an offer is just an aspect of having enough information.

Talking about efficiency, I’d like to highlight two points.

• Time

• Money

A realtor definitely knows the process of buying a home. They are specialists in the buying process. The realtor has information that will help you be more efficient in the buying process. Specifically, they can sift through properties quickly and show you the properties within your budget and which you can likely buy.

There are positives and negatives to this process. On the one hand, the realtor can quickly understand the features that you would like and they can also make a list of properties that you can afford. On the other hand, some realtors love to show buyers around so that the buyer starts to feel more thankful for the help and indebted to them. The key is that the realtor is trying to figure out how much they need to do so that you feel that the service is worth it.

Efficiency means paying for the services you need and saving time and money in the process. Are we paying for services that we really don’t need? The more you require the realtor to work on unnecessary efforts and put in the legwork, the more you’ll feel indebted and lose your bargaining power regarding the commission rebate. 

Let me give you an example, once the seller has accepted your offer, and you need to make the initial deposit at the listing agent’s brokerage, the normal practice is for the realtor to pick up the check from you and then deliver the check to the listing brokerage. Is that what you’re paying for?

Consider another model where you deliver the check yourself and at the same time save both money and time. Image the amount of money you can save by doing this simple task. And that’s not the only place where you can save huge amounts of money. 

Besides saving money by delivering the check to the brokerage. Realtors also facilitate fixing and cleaning properties. Obviously, you can find a professional to do these things and end up with the same or even better service. The money that you will receive from the commission rebate will far exceed the cost to handle these issues by yourself and in many cases, people already have the experience they need to do things on their own. So why pay more? 

Let’s keep going. Think about showing the properties. Is it necessary to see a long list of properties that you’re not interested in because the price is so far above your budget, does not have all the features you need, or is not in the right area? Realtors like to add a few more properties from the same neighborhood to perhaps pique your interest or perhaps to show their willingness to help you. In reality, it’s just a waste of time.

Recently, I met a lady that was interested in buying a house. I introduced her to my ‘pay-as-you-go’ service and she was really interested. She’d bought homes before and was well aware that commissions these days are quite a considerable portion of the property price. She read my blog post and called me right away. She excitedly told me that this was how she’d wished to buy properties in the past because she is experienced enough to know what she needs the realtor to do.

In terms of the buyer agent representation agreement, she has a few concerns. I explained to her that there is no need for her to sign this agreement before she’s ready to send an offer. Even when she sent the offer, the agreement between her and me was connected to the specific property and had an expiration date. If the offer for the property is not accepted, she becomes free to choose another agent or continue working with me to find another property and send a new offer to another property. 

After she paid for the specific service of sending the offer, there were a number of other agreements that needed to be signed. She was confused and showed some hesitation because she was worried about the holdover period of 60 days. When she worked with other agents, she noticed that the agreements protected the interests of the agent. I explained to her that the holdover period as it fits within the services that I provide are connected again to the specific property that we sent the offer to. Obviously, she felt relieved because she has all the freedom and flexibility she needs to work with who she wants to and the focus of our work together becomes results-driven. 

I received a call the other day from someone looking for an apartment. He started the conversation by expressing his doubts. 

How can this be true? What is this new paradigm? 

He started by looking at my website and raised some concerns about how he could buy a house with such big savings.

I am giving a 100% commission rebate and obviously, this isn’t how realtors in this industry normally work.

The traditional way of buying a property in Canada goes like this:

• The buyer normally needs to hire a realtor to view properties

• Then the realtor needs to draft and send an offer

The buyer doesn’t pay anything to the buyer agent because the commission is normally collected from the seller and equates to 2.5% of the purchase price. 

As you can see, by working this way there is a conflict of interest. The money is coming from the seller and not the buyer. Sometimes it seems that the real estate agent could be motivated to close the deal as quickly as possible. In that case, who is looking after the interests of the buyer?

In addition, as property prices continue to go up, that 2.5% turns into a pretty big number. 

Here are some important questions to think about when you’re buying a home.

1. Although the sale price of homes is going up, are realtors providing more value when they serve their customers?

2. Would you be interested in paying for only the services that you need?

3. Have you ever thought about the hourly commission that realtors make?

To find out more about how you can take advantage of these savings, feel free to send me an email or give me a call and we’ll start to figure out exactly which services you need.

You can also comment below and post your questions!

The title of this blog looks pretty serious. At the end of the day, when you’re buying a home, it’s important to be serious, so let’s break down the issue into individual parts.

In general, the conflict of interest is about the following topics:

1. The buyer’s agent technically speaking receives the commission from the seller but is offering services to the buyer

2. There are several aspects of the buying process that are not talked about (not disclosed) to the buyer

The buying process is quite complicated, you’re going to pay a huge sum of money, and throughout this process, there are several issues that have to be cleared. This all leads to a number of uncertainties. Those uncertainties can mean that buyers have the opportunity to walk away from the agent when they feel that there is a disconnect between the “ideal buying process” and the service that they're actually given. There are also a lot of buyers that are just shopping around and talking to a lot of different agents. This means that the agent needs to do something to lock in the deal and they can do that by instilling confidence in the buyer that they’ve found the right realtor.

What’s the solution?

Comment below, talking about your experience during the buying process and the times where you felt there was a conflict of interest.

A Partial Solution to the so-called Conflict of Interest

• Although it’s not possible to eliminate all aspects of this conflict of interest, it is possible to alleviate a great portion of it by charging by services and rebating all of the commission paid by the seller to the buyer.
• The good thing about this package is that it is very transparent and fair in terms of the amount of time that the realtor spends providing the services and the charge rate. Using this method, we can increase efficiency and save time. This is due to the fact that when a buyer has to pay for something, the buyer will be able to focus on the step-by-step process of buying a home. At each step, the input of the buyer becomes the only thing on the realtor’s mind.
• For the agent, this process becomes simplified and they understand that they will be paid for their direct effort and time as it is allocated to a specific service. This ‘pay-as-you-go’ model reduces the need for realtors to spend so much time thinking about how to lock in the buyer and make them feel that the service they provide is the best. In the old model, people skills are the focus while in the new model results become the focus. 
• In order to achieve the optimal results, the buyer will need to learn how to create an offer. That means that buyers should understand the factors that should be considered as the offer is created. The more the buyer knows about each step of the buying process can also be a benefit, but the first issue is the offer. 
• Once you understand how to create an offer and all the relevant factors, we then return to the beginning of the buying process. Another step that is important to consider as you work with your realtor to reach the point of delivering an offer is that buyers can save quite of bit of money if they do some leg work. 
• In addition, the buyer should read through all of the contracts before an offer is given. Rather than hoping and praying that everything is ok, this new model gives you the opportunity to learn about each element of the contracts that you will sign and which will be the legal basis for you to make a binding offer and eventually to take ownership of the property.

How to choose the right realtor when buying

There are many articles and tips on how to choose a realtor when buying a home. Would those tips effectively help the buyer solve all the issues, relieve concerns and potential worries?

What might be the right method?

The buyer may have to possess some necessary and indisputable knowledge or experience to make the selection. Otherwise, it may be in the wrong direction to chase.

What is the root cause?

The most perplexing thing is that there does not exist an optimal answer to this costly question. Think about it, how could there be a simple reply to a fundamental conflict of interest between buyer and agent, not to mention the complexities and varieties that need to be faced during the house hunting and transaction.

From the buyer's side, the buyer wishes to get a more tailored, patient, and professional service at the lowest possible price. If the buyer happens to buy the house after just a couple of rounds of viewing the property, the buyer probably would think to have overpaid the agent considering the service time and endeavor obtained from that agent.

From the agent's perspective, the less time and endeavor spent, the more commission earned, the merrier. However, to prove the plausible value, a good deal of effort is spent on designing many methods and tactics to get the buyer’s empathy, to win over the buyer's trust.

It is not uncommon to see the agent may have devised many unnecessary or detoured ways and steps. For example, showing the property, which does not exactly match the buyer’s demand or has a slim chance to close, pretending a lot more effort is put in the deal, bluffing, manipulation, etc.

Once the buyer shows interest, the agent may try every way to convince the buyer to close the deal ASAP. A large number of buyers don't even have enough time to read through those multiple contracts and then are pressured to sign the offer due to the urgency.

Can those agreements be read through and be interpreted in advance? Yes, it is also required by RECO. There are clear-cut rules and regulations on the paper to confine the agent's conduct. But to a human being, how can the fair moral standard be set up against oneself in case of a large personal stake involved. 

Does transparency contribute?

Think about the benefits that the online purchase brings to the average family. The transparency of the product quality, price, and availability largely shape the way people purchase, drive down the cost substantially and make goods more affordable.

What if such a thing is brought into the real estate industry? Could at least a large portion of families be benefiting from this change? 

Who cares less?

If one is from a super-wealthy family and doesn't bother to consider saving a couple of tens of thousands dollars; If one is super busy and traveling all around, and the spouse is also hectic all the time, there is no luxury of time to gather necessary knowledge on home purchase; or if one is a new immigrant, and needs a heavy reliance on someone to provide more extensive service, it is recommended, in those cases, to leave the whole or majority of the commission to the agent who is spending a lot of time serving you. 

Who cares more

However, for the majority of an average family, why not set up a time slot to learn something on the house transaction and get back a nice commission rebate.

For safety reasons, one could buy the right property with fewer worries and potential issues.

For money reasons, the rebate is a net saving. How much time one has to work to earn such an amount, which can be easily translated into working time in terms of hundreds or thousands of hours. The rebate is a true thing and hanging over the head.

What all is required is to make a simple and quick mind change, and try it, then it comes along with the extra happiness on top of what the new home purchase brings. Use that money for a fancy gift to oneself, or to the spouse or family member, or to plan an unworried trip (after the epidemics, of course) without much budget concern.

How to learn quickly on home knowledge?

One may raise the questions such as buying a home is complicated, and it is hard to learn that knowledge. Here is what to do. Read the guides if one has time, or read the concise guide at least.

Equipped with the knowledge from the short guide, one could rely less on the agent, the efficiency is increased, and eventually, this would be reflected in the different rebate programs. Though one may not be knowledgeable to join a full commission rebate program, one still could get a decent rebate.

There are other questions that need to be considered, which hopefully will help you formulate the right strategy in how to choose the right realtor.

Does the salesperson’s experience really matter?

Yes or no,  it really depends on the situation. Besides, how to make the proper judgment? Has the effective criteria been established to make a sound call? How can one avoid the impact of the first impression or hallo effect, which are categorized into fallacies of human instinct reaction by the Nobel laureate, Danniel Kannman.

In an extreme, if one completely counts on the agent to take care of everything, or one is wealthy enough to overlook the commission rebate that is worth tens of thousands of dollars. Getting a trusted agent definitely helps.

On the other extreme, if you are conversing on the home transaction, or you have time and interest in DIY, or you are willing to learn, you are almost totally independent of any salesperson to make the decisions, equipped with the related knowledge.

Then what about the buyers in between? It depends on the instances. In a situation like a bidding war, all things are pinned at the bottom number, the number that the buyer offers, and the amount the buyer takes the risks and chances. In many other cases, the salesperson’s experience does matter, but how can the inherent interest conflicts be avoided?

If we think in-depth, as average family persons, we have to compromise on a lot of things. For instance, we spend a considerable time on the search for a good deal to book a flight and hotel for the family vacation.

Then to the house purchase, we behave unnaturally and put our faith in someone who is a non-family member, and whose primary interest is earning from us. Does it sound a bit ironic and unrealistic? 

One may excuse oneself that the home purchase is too complex and it needs too much knowledge to build up.  How about the example that is just brought up. How much more money one has to pay to the traditional travel agent and service providers if not because of the transparency that those internet forerunners bring to the industry. 

Home-related knowledge is no math. If one indeed has less enthusiasm or one happens to be extremely busy, here is the suggestion. One would catch up on the main points, pay attention to the main practices, use the checklist to make sure the major issues are covered by oneself or via the agent. 

But to make it effective and functional, besides the necessary knowledge one has acquired, it also requires something just like what the internet pioneers bring to the travel industry, that is a system that can help and facilitate one to achieve this.

Realsav.com is aiming for that, and has the initial plan and runs its system on the trial. It is a long journey, but transparency and fairness is eventually the real and ultimate winner. 

Does the brokerage’s fame count as claimed?

All the brokerages are required by RECO to be insured to relieve the buyer’s worry from the issues such as deposit, and possible omission and errors.

Most of the information is listed on websites like realtor.com (accessible to the public), therefore, the information that the purchase decision is mainly based on is quite open to the public.

Most of the salespersons, no matter the brokerage size, are self-employed, and they are living on commission. All the salespeople are insured per RECO for protecting the clients' or customers’ interests.

So as to the added-on value that some brokerage claims, does it justify the extra hefty charge?

Does the salesperson’s familiarity with the neighborhood count much?

Who knows more than yourself about your wants or needs? Who cares more about you more than yourself? Who is the person to take the consequence, impact, and benefits of the home purchase? It is all about you, and nobody else. 

The minute factors, tangible or intangible, changing demands due to the situation variance will put a challenge to the agents who assist you on the purchase. How can they adapt to the new changes easily and provide sound advice impeccably for you? 

The widely spreading information is easily accessible on the internet, plus with the valuable sold-data which has been released to the public since Nov 2019. You are powered with a similar information source as the salesperson does. Do you still have to solely rely on agent recommendation? 

Do you have to rely on the agent to buy a home?

Theoretically, one is free to buy a house by oneself. However, the common practices set up some hurdles and hindrances. For example, the buyer is limited to access to the property and will find difficulties in placing an offer. For additional information, please refer to Can I buy a home by myself? 

In short, the benefits of buying without an agent are very limited, and that is not an optimal solution. Getting an agent who is offering cashback is a better choice, the dilemma then is how to get the right one who meets all the requirements including a reasonable cashback.

How do you balance all the considerations to make the smart decision to choose the right agent?

Those questions above are the main factors one needs to consider, and there are other considerations minor or major depending on the situation. It is another challenge to put the buyer in the front line to muse, think, weigh, consider, in order to make an uneasy, sometimes unpleasant decision.

In case things go south, remorse, regret, pity are the agonies that one has to go through. Why is that? It may be due to the nature of the essential interest conflict between the buyer and the agent. No matter how logical and reasonable the buyer is, there isn’t a simple and quick answer.

One may be in the relentless struggle mingled with the complexity of home buying by itself. The joy and excitement that is supposed to be experienced in the single largest spending become an unwholesome journey.

Is there an ultimate solution to those concerns?

One may feel disappointed since there is no such ultimate solution existing. The inherent fight between the buyer and the buyer agent is persisting and unending. The only possible solution is to find a system or program which is transparent, and acceptable to the buyer in terms of fairness at the time being. 

Which is more reliable and trustworthy, the system or human?

Does that system really solve all the perplexities and relieve one from all the worries and anxieties. It is a clear no since the system is operated and implemented by a human.

However, the system most likely has a considerable advantage over an individual human salesperson. At least, with the system, you have better control over projecting what you can achieve and get, and you most likely can get what you want since the system has a policy in black and white.

On the other hand, to deal with a human being instead of a system, you may end up in unending guesses.

Bottom line, you could at least predict what services you could get and calculate what you may cost by using the service listed out in the commission rebate programs.