Buying agent

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Purchasing agent or purchasing agent is a person or company offering to purchase goods or property on behalf of another party. There are agents for all types of products, ranging from raw material commodities to specialized special equipment.

Video Buying agent

Real estate

In the United States, an agency that buys real estate in this way is also known as a property search agent or buyer agent and is a professional exclusively acting on behalf of property buyers who assist clients during the entire buying process from the source property matches the client's requirements to negotiate the best price and terms with the seller and assist the client during the legal process to complete the acquisition.

Purchasing agents often review properties on behalf of their clients, shrink the most appropriate list, and usually accompany clients to all views. To ensure the most efficient viewing experience of a property, most agents offer drivers and sometimes even view helicopters to their high-end clients. Often they will also offer personal concierge services that can schedule all displays, book hotels, transfers and other facilities for clients. This service can be very useful for international clients who tend to fly to view properties. Additionally agents can usually connect clients with all necessary technical trades of people who are required at different stages of the buying process such as lawyers, surveyors and other professionals.

Purchasing agents may have access to off-market properties through their contact network, although this depends on market conditions and how well the agents connect locally.

Ethical behavior is a very important aspect of measuring professionalism of purchasing agents: whenever they have to tell their clients without self-interest for the cost of their own success.

Although originally purchasing agents serve exclusively for richer demographics, more recently, especially in more competitive markets such as London or Paris, entry rates have dropped significantly into properties worth around Â£ 500,000 or EUR500,000 (see i > The Daily Telegraph ,)

At one end of the spectrum, super local property experts are introduced which can be an invaluable resource for buyers who are set outside the market or pre-market property as well as private transactions. These professionals can often seek outside the market because they have close relationships with real agents (or, in the United States, real estate brokers), they know other local intermediaries that can mark exclusive secret transactions, such as lawyers, private bankers , investment managers or other professionals and they sometimes know privately the best luxury property owners for sale in the area they cover. If this is what buyers are looking for then the size of the company is less relevant because contacts are made from time to time and are in the hands of some experienced professionals who can operate within larger organizations as well as themselves. Purchasing agents also often have close relationships with property developers where agents can gain access to new properties before they enter the open market.

At the other end of the spectrum there are agencies that act more like relocation firms, well-organized, operate in multiple languages, assist their clients with all necessary documents, connect well to various professionals and other companies to provide full-blown services; these companies may be less able to find transactions outside the market or deal directly with private property owners.

Independent buying agencies want to emphasize their autonomy from sales agents who, depending on the state, either act on behalf of the seller or as a mediator between the two sides (See The Independent ,). On the other hand, some well-known property agents also offer purchase services despite objections to conflicts of interest.

Due to the different nature of the purchasing agent, prospect buyers are often advised to contact more than one company to compare and compare their benefits. As is often the case, it can be better to hire a professional who is better able to listen and understand our needs even if his company does not fully tick all the other boxes.

Most purchasing agents have significant transactional experience; however, like property agents, few of these professionals have survey qualifications so they may not be the best advisers in respecting property and predicting future market trends. For this reason buyers may rely on other advisors or their own judgments before making an investment decision.

From a geographical point of view, the coverage of purchasing agents ranges from a somewhat limited focus on certain urban districts or subregion areas (some cities and surrounding areas) to national 'chain' services. But each company has several areas where it is stronger and only in those locations can deliver higher value, especially when it comes to special opportunity sources. Only a few companies in Europe have grown to include more than one country by employing different professionals.

There are various terms for a buying agent that includes: property consultant, property acquisition consultant, relocation agent and property seeker. In accordance with the above paragraph, their skills are slightly different but the business is very similar. Because this particular section of the property industry is still relatively new, compared to real agents for example, the specific terms used are still debated in each country.

Legal requirements

In some European countries, such as the UK, purchasing agents do not need to pass special exams or obtain any certification to begin practicing their profession, while in other countries, such as Italy, France or Spain, they must comply with the same qualification and legal requirements. as sellers do, although both roles differ substantially. The gaps shown in this rule can be met if and when the industry will mature.

Cost

The cost of a buying agent depends on a particular property market and often varies within a particular country. The overall cost structure is made up of a small refundable registration fee (as long as the buyer completes the purchase within a specified time period in the contract) and is charged in advance, and the cost of success which is a percentage of the purchase price of the property and is paid on the contract exchanges or when the initial contract is signed.

Purchasing agents generally require exclusivity which means that clients can not keep looking for themselves or through real agents during the contract period, which usually last from 3 to 6 months.

French companies are prohibited from charging registration fees and are required by law to bind all their compensation to the successful completion of the transaction. However, a good purchasing agent does not benefit from registration fees; the main purpose of cost is to increase the likelihood that the client is committed to buying; if they do not, they will lose the registration fee after a certain period of time.

The cost of success is the percentage of the sale price. Prospect property buyers should know that there are two different settings mainly depending on market conditions:

In a market where the average sale time of a luxury property is high, the purchasing agent tends to share costs with the realtors and therefore the service has no additional cost to the buyer. This is because sellers usually prefer to divide commissions with purchasing agents rather than waiting longer to find other buyers and sell the same property. In the case of a personal source purchase agent they charge a fee for a sales agent's commission (eg a full 5% on the French Riviera up to 2% in Spain.
In highly liquid markets (such as London or Paris) purchasing agent fees are charged above the cost of a realtors agent, so purchasing agent services incur additional costs to the property buyer unless the purchasing agent can find properties that are not sold by the agent. In this case, depending on the market buying agent, charge the amount to the commission of the sales agent (which is generally higher than the cost of the purchasing agent).
Some agencies charge a successful fee based on the purchase price - this is a fixed percentage. In addition, other agents charge a fixed amount of money plus a discount saving percentage to the original request price.

All these provisions are clearly defined in the contract agreement that the client enrolls in advance. Purchasing agents often claim that they can get a higher discount on the sale price than private buyers can manage because they know better the price at which similar properties have recently been exchanged in the market and they utilize good negotiation skills.

A complete set of ethical codes is defined by the Property Ombudsman, in which any respected purchasing agent will become a member.