1. A buyer's agent will guide you through the transaction. Considering the complexities associated with purchasing an apartment in New York City, particularly a co-op apartment, having an experienced and trusted advisor guide you through the transaction will spare you from innumerable headaches, expedite the process and, in many instances, save the deal. A buyer's agent will help you prepare your board package and will coordinate all aspects of the purchase (i.e. with the attorneys, appraiser, listing brokers and management company) to ensure that the closing actually happens.

  2. There is no additional cost to you as the buyer to use a buyer's agent. The buyer's agent is compensated for his or her services by sharing a commission with the listing broker that is paid by the seller. As the commission is usually pre-set in a written contract with the listing broker, it is built into the price of the apartment and it will get paid regardless of whether you use a buyer's agent or not. Therefore, considering that you are in effect paying for the services of a buyer's agent in that the commission has already been factored into the price of the apartment, you might as well take advantage of the services that you are paying for.

  3. They serve as a filter - no other agents will call you. If you do not use a buyer's agent and instead contact listing brokers directly, all of the listing brokers would continue to contact you. If you were to see 15 or 20 apartments, this would mean that 15 or 20 listing agents would contact you. We have found that most people prefer not to have this volume of incoming phone calls from listing agents. In contrast, when you work with a buyer's agent, none of the listing agents whose apartments you preview will contact you. Only your buyer's agent will contact you. If a listing agent wants to see how you liked a particular apartment, the listing agent will have to contact your buyer's agent and cannot contact you directly. This saves you from the hassle of having to deal with dozens of real estate agents.

In summary, as the New York City real estate market is similar in many respects to the Amazon (think piranhas and alligators), we recommend that only those who are comfortable with navigating through the jungles of the Amazon without an experienced guide should attempt to navigate the jungles of the Manhattan real estate market on their own. << Previous    |    Page 3 of 3