They’re everywhere!
All licensed real estate salespersons can practice as a Buyer Agent. We simply don’t hear of agents marketing themselves as such.
It’s much easier to get a listing from a seller in their homes than to search for a rogue buyer in the wild. Today, you’ll find most Buyer Agents representing you by circumstance, only after they’ve helped you sell your home; to facilitate your transition into your next property.
The going strategy out there for consumers is to purchase a first home with your own research, slowly learn about the mistakes you’ve made while living in it, read a ton, and get really involved in the property game; and when you want to sell to move, engage your listing agent to represent you for your next purchase.
You never hear about this mistake because no one willingly admits to it. Heck! I didn’t even hear about it from within the industry. It wasn’t till I spoke and questioned everyday people on the street (literally) where I discovered how widespread such errors are.
Well, you can’t be blamed. Specialist ‘Buyer Agents’ isn’t a common angle. You don’t know what you don’t know. And buyers like yourself are hard to reach. During your entire process of purchase, if you do it yourself, the only professional you meet is the banker for your mortgage (if you take a bank loan). And they’re not equipped to advise and sieve out your property mistakes. Most agents wouldn’t stop you either. We can always earn your commission first, and spend the next 3 to 5 years using a ‘soft approach’ to educate you on your mistake. But that doesn’t sit well with me; that would make me ‘witness to a crime’ (metaphorically).
Consumers on the ground are on the fence. What I’ve heard from regretful homeowners are a list of fears.
- They fear being pushed to buy something out of their financial limits. You can always say no, or find another agent with better math.
- They don’t want to pay the extra commission. Unless you’re buying a resale HDB, the commission is paid by the seller; even then, consulting a Buyer Agent is about expanding your choices.
- They don’t know if they can trust the agent they find. So look for more, speak early, speak openly, speak casually.
Ask around for personal stories amongst friends and families. Take note of those who’ve used a Buyer Agent and those who did not. Repeat those stories you’ve gathered to different agents, and hear the perspectives of someone in-the-know. I’m certain they’ll bust many myths confidently told to you by close friends and family.
Up against the prevailing pushback, here’s why I believe being a Buyer Agent representative is the right strategy moving forward.
The growing mountain of cooling measures make each person’s situation, lifestyle choices, and property choices a mess to organise into a reliable execution plan. We also have to look at opportunity cost, especially for couples who are getting married later these days. Even balloting for BTO may not be a no-brainer strategy anymore…
Avoid First-Purchase Regrets
Over the past few months, I’ve surveyed everyone I’ve come into contact with. And I’ve discovered that anyone who had made their first home purchase without consulting a Buyer Agent had a minimum of ‘5-figure sum regrets’. Some surveyed even had close friends or family who are licensed agents themselves, and still made first-purchase mistakes. Others bought BTOs and incurred 4- to 5-figure ‘inconveniences’ too.
Get Golden Advice
As Buyer Agents, we’re always on top of current (and projected) market conditions; it’s literally our job to be in-the-know. Buyer Agents are equipped to advise you on entry timings and price comparisons at lightspeed and with precise detail. A wholistic property plan would also require a concrete exit strategy backed by numbers (i.e. future transaction volumes, projected sale prices based on the property health and developing surroundings during your ‘sale window’, and loads more…).
Our Information Advantage
We’ve come a long way from the birth of the Internet. The world is highly connected, not only digitally, but corporeally and incorporeally (socially and economically) through trade and commerce. To quote a retired wanderer I’ve met recently, “Singapore is a vibrant trade wonder!” And with this posting, the real estate markets on our little island nation will be affected by unsuspecting global background phenomena.
Hence, our agents are backed by huge amounts of daily news and updates (I can give you a peek into the chatgroups 😉 in person of course…) which non-agents cannot possibly keep up with. To be fair, we can barely read and decipher every piece of news coherently ourselves. But combined with our network of agents, we can sieve out crucial and timely notes which are apt to affect your property choices tomorrow.
Our Time Advantage
This is a full-time job. I used to be a copywriter (is it obvious?) running my own branding and marketing firm. Getting up to speed on the ins-and-outs of a new industry. Reading and researching piles of data and datasheets at record speed. These were necessary skills to create a good brand or marketing campaign on a deadline. And now… channelling those skills, I’ll admit that real estate analysis is cut-throat and extremely complex without training. So I wouldn’t imagine that with a full-time or part-time job, one could identify and understand all that information out there clearly. Unless your name is Rick Sanchez.
The Market You Don’t Know
Internal Chatgroups. Division Networking. Company-level Sharing. There’s not much to say here. Sometimes, the best listings don’t reach your favourite ‘listing sites’. We have the inside scoop on the latest properties, and much of these tend to come with early-bird pricings. We simply have more options at our fingertips for you to choose from. Should you be retired or retiring, Buyer Agents also actively seek out stray investment opportunities which never hit mass market because they're snapped up by other well-connected investors.
The Dawn of New Cooling Measures (Effective 15th February 2023)
Successful BTO balloting currently requires an estimated 1 to 5 tries. As couples under 40 with children are given extra ballot chances, the couples under 40 without children will have to seriously consider other housing options, or have a baby.
Henceforth, the alternative(s) Resale HDB or Private Residential will have to be considered more seriously. Trying to weave between cooling measures, fine-print policies, and financial structuring around those markets on your own will create an unnecessary nightmare. And a BTO PLH is not to be chosen lightly! (more on that soon; article on the way).
As more cooling measures enter the property market, Buyer Agents will become more valuable to the hardworking consumer.
1) You buy the wrong property and/or with the wrong arrangements and/or with the wrong financial structure on your own (because this story isn’t unique). It sets you back 5- to 6-figures and 5 to 15 years (depending on the severity of your error). Opportunity cost lost, mortgage ability reduced, and most importantly, years gone by.
2) You don’t consult a Buyer Agent immediately. You consult a Buyer Agent ‘when you need one’; which coincidentally tends to be too close to when you’ve decided is the right time to make a transaction. The Buyer Agent has no time to anticipate your demands because the market is volatile (which could likely be the impetus for contacting the Buyer Agent at that time too). The Buyer Agent can’t help you in the short time the market has shifted.
3) You consult a Buyer Agent immediately. You don’t like what we have to say. You say no.
