A home seller sent me an email asking a question that I have been asked before leading me to believe that others might have the same question.
The seller is looking for a new home and wanted to know if he has to use the same agent that is selling his home to buy a home.
He has a contract with a Realtor to sell his home but that does not mean he has to use the same agent to help him purchase a home. The contract is a listing agreement. Unless the seller signs a buyers agreement with the agent he can work with any agent.
Usually sellers do use the same agent for the sale and a purchase and usually the arrangement works out well, but not always.
The best agent is the agent who knows the neighborhoods that the buyer is interested in and an agent who likes to work with buyers, and who has experience working with buyers.
As for choosing an agent some listing agents do not make very good buyers agents, and I have known buyers agents that mostly avoid listing homes. Ask questions, and no a contract with an agent to list your home is just a contract to list your home. A buyers contract with an agent is a separate agreement. It used to be that all agents represented the seller.
Most people do not buy or sell too many homes in their life time and the rules and laws change during the years or decades between transactions. The Minnesota Attorney generals office has the best consumer information about buying and selling real estate. The home buyers handbook and the home sellers handbook.
I am shocked that this conversation isn’t wrapped up by the listing agent. What is he/she doing? This is the myopic problem that some agents have. At the very least, they should be referring their seller to a buyer agent.
In my experience of purchasing home…it’s always best to evaluate first. The reason is because of location. The agent is not always familiar with the location of a home which means you can be misled very easily if you are also not aware of the area. If the agent is from the area, you may be in good hands. Area Code Finder