[speedplane]

> in the US, the buyer's agent is only working for the buyer. They're just paid by the seller (traditionally and stupidly).

I just went through this process. While the buyer's agent ostensibly works for the buyer, their main incentive is to get you to close. It doesn't matter if it's a good deal, a bad deal, or whatever. They take 3% so if you overpay or underpay by 10% of the appropriate value of the house that's only +/- 0.3% to them. They are much more interested in closing the deal quickly and moving on to the next than making sure you get what you want.

[makeset]

Not to defend the system, the incentives are clearly not well-aligned, but I also just went through this process had an unexpectedly great experience with my buyer's agent, whom I found through a referral.

He was professional, ethical, and actually took his fiduciary duty seriously. He didn't claim to find listings that I wouldn't have myself, but guided my search a bit based on my criteria, gave candid feedback on them and what to look for, and bargained on the price with the seller harder than I would have, saving me more than his commission. When I discovered a potential issue with the property and had second thoughts pre-close, he didn't try to discourage me one bit from letting a done deal fall through, and was ready to support my decision. And he set up the many appointments with the seller's agents, handled the literal ream of closing paperwork, dotted the i's and crossed the t's, and made this whole convoluted process go smoothly. From my end, he more than deserved his commission he got out of the deal, and he will certainly have my future business buying or selling.

[speedplane]

Maybe I just got a bad buyer's broker (he was a reference from my mother, how could I refuse). My broker would refuse to CC me or BCC me on any communication with the seller's agent, or the co-op board, and when I asked him to forward this communication, he would remove timestamps and the underlying earlier threaded email messages.

It felt incredibly sketchy and unprofessional, but to this day I'm not sure if it was due to ineptitude, trying to provide cover for himself, or worse (maybe by deleting timestamps he could claim he responded faster than he did).

He also made a huge omission. He knew we wanted to renovate the apartment, but we did not get a copy of the alteration agreement until after we signed the contract. I didn't even know what an alteration agreement was, but it was something I felt a good buyer's broker should raise early if he/she knows you're planning a reno.

In the end, the deal did close, I think we got a fair price, but it came with many avoidable headaches and much unnecessary anxiety had our broker been more professional.

[ethbro]

We're talking gradations of responsibility, now.

In the same way a lawyer works for you, a buyer's agent works for the buyer.

Emphasis on works for. My understanding is they are under obligations to (a) attempt to realize your stated goals & (b) ensure everything is done properly on the paperwork side.

If you say "I want to pay $750,000 for a house that appraises for $450,000", I don't think they have an obligation to say "You should probably pay less / not buy that property."

As you've rightly noted, there is a conflict of interest (mostly with speed of deal, rather than price). But ultimately it's the buyer's responsibility to set the terms of the deal.

[stjohnswarts]

That's not true in a general sense at all. My agent actively dissuaded me from several houses and pointed out why they were a bad deal. In the end I ended up with a house that I found while driving around a neighborhood I liked. The BA helped me with all the paperwork and made sure I didn't have any issues with the purchase as well.