Are Estate Agents your friends?
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| Are Estate Agents your friends? |
| When buying a property its very important to remember who represents who. An estate agent represents the seller and in most cases has a written contract which confirms this relationship. So who represents the buyer? In theory, it should be the bond broker who guards the interests of the buyer by providing the appropriate advice combined with the legal assistance of a "tame conveyancer". Don't be conned into believing that the agent is on your side! There are some agents who are fair and try and get the deal to happen in favour of both parties, don't get me wrong here, but there are those that will drop you like a hot potatoe if a better offer is on the horizon. So what are the steps (in my opinion) which one should follow? 1.Never sign an offer to purchase without having a conveyancer look over the document (we provide this as a set standard for all our clients) 2.Try and get the transfer through your own conveyancer (hey its a buyers market, therefore you have the power) - this will mean that the bond registration and transfer can be handled by one conveyancer, therefore larger possibility of providing a discount. 3.Don't use the agent's bond consultant because they say the deal depends on it.Service and knowledge is everything, false promises mean nothing! 4.Have an independent 3rd party, such as Bondadvisor.co.za representing you, who can guide you objectively and keep an eye open for any strange happenings. www.Bondadvisor.co.za |
