Buyer's advocate

My wife and I are looking for a new home and intend to hire a buyer’s advocate to assist us. A buyer’s advocate represents the buyer in real estate transactions. In contrast to real estate agents who serve the seller, buyer’s advocates focus solely on helping buyers find properties that meet their requirements at an appropriate price. We aim to discover a home we truly love rather than settle for anything, so we believe employing a buyer’s advocate will offer us the best opportunity to achieve this.

A buyer’s advocate provides various services, such as identifying properties with strong market potential, coordinating inspections and appraisals, accessing off-market listings, conducting extensive due diligence to pinpoint any issues with a property, and crucially, managing interactions with real estate agents to negotiate the purchase price or place bids on the buyer’s behalf during auctions.

The cost of employing a buyer’s advocate can vary depending on the required services. The advocate might request a flat fee, a percentage of the purchase price, or an upfront retainer fee. We could forego this expense and look for a house ourselves, but we believe the cost will be worth it.