using a buyer’s advocate – is it for me?

Is using a buyer’s advocate for you? Let’s chat about the benefits of using their services when buying a property!

Co-host of my millennial property, Emily Wallace, is a buyer’s advocate in Melbourne. She works on the ground every day sourcing properties for keen buyers, hitting up auctions on the weekend, and ensuring home buyers achieve their property goals! Subscibe to my millennial property to learn from her guidance and advice!

Also have a listen to the below episode with Emily on my millennial money about using the services of a buyer's advocate:

This blog is written by Emily Wallace, buyer’s advocate in Melbourne. Check out her services here.

using a buyer’s advocate - is it for me?

It’s a good question really, do you need to use a buyer’s advocate when making your next property purchase? Well, rather than tell you that you MUST, how about we talk through the reasons why people do engage the service.

A buyer’s advocate solely represents the buyer in the property transaction. The vendor has enlisted the services of a real estate agent to sell their home and the buyer engages an advocate to make a purchase. Although it’s not the ‘done thing’ here in Australia, it may surprise you to know that in the US, 98% of property purchases involve a buyer’s advocate.

Also, before we get into the nuts and bolts, let’s just clear one thing up! A buyer’s advocate and a buyer’s agent are exactly the same thing. Some industry professionals prefer to use the term ‘advocate’ so they aren’t confused with a real estate agent.

(Side note, never say to a buyer’s advocate ‘Oh, so you’re like a real estate agent?’. This will result in a long-winded explanation detailing every single attribute that makes them an advocate and not a real estate agent).

Let’s start with the three common reasons why buyers engage an advocate.

1. access to off-market properties – the mystical, magical secret market

So you’ve been surfing realestate.com and Domain like an animal hunting for their next meal and nothing seems to be ticking every box. You get super excited when you receive a notification and the app tells you ‘there is a new property match for your saved criteria’ only to be disheartened when you find out it’s exactly what you do not want.

Having access to off market properties is a huge advantage for buyers, especially in the sub $1M market where competition is fierce. Not only do off market opportunities eliminate competition, they also give you choice.

Think about it, not every single client who goes through an advocate will result in an off market purchase. However, by having off-market access, you are more likely to be educated in your decision because you’ve had the chance to assess more options than the stock lists sitting online.

2. outsource – you do you, boo

Millennials are amazing at holding an outsourcing mindset. We have this weird ability to understand that we have strengthens and we should stick to those, am I right?

Two people hitting their drinks together saying 'you do you'

Being an advocate is a full time (make that 70 hours a week) job, so it would make sense to outsource to someone who does this for a living.

Not convinced? Let me ask you these three questions.

a. Can you name more than 20 real estate agents in your search area that you’d easily pick up the phone and have a chat to? Do you know personal details like their dog’s name and that they play golf on Friday mornings with Andrew?

b. Have you negotiated more than 20 property deals in the last 6 months? Negotiation and auction bidding is a muscle that needs constant work and refining. After all, doing one dead lift won’t equal those gains, will it?

c. Who are you turning to for property advice? Dad? Mum? Uncle Jim? Your best friend who just bought last week, for the first time? Given it’s highly likely the collective total of properties purchased by Dad, Mum, Uncle Jim and your best friend are equal to the number of properties an advocate would purchase in a month, who would you turn to? I think you know where I’m going with this.

3. a Mazda dealership will sell you a Mazda, not a Golf

Real estate agents are only incentivised to sell their own stock. Walk into a property listed by Peanut Real Estate, guess what, shock horror, they aren’t going to tell you about the amazing property down the road that ticks all your boxes listed by Cashew Real Estate, are they? Nope! Why? Because they don’t make a dollar from it. Just like walking into a Mazda dealership, guess what, they are only going to sell you a Mazda, not a magical Golf (I drive neither of these cars but I hear there is competition).

A woman smiling and a man dancing with joy.

There are endless reasons as to why you may engage an advocate to assist in your property purchase but above all, let’s just take a moment.

It is highly likely that the purchase you are about to make it the single largest investment of money you have made in your life, to date. It seems pretty crazy that you wouldn’t invest in some help in order to make a great decision, eliminate risk and take the stress out of it, right?

here’s a step by step guide of how an advocate SHOULD provide you with service:

1. Once you have a pre-approval in your hot little hands, the advocate will need to formulate your buyer profile. This buyer profile meeting should cover off your entire wish list of must have, nice to have, non-negotiables and ideal floor plan. It should also go into great detail about the areas you wish to purchase in and in some cases, even down to your preferred streets.

2. The next step is the sourcing phase of the process. Once your buyer profile is complete, the advocate now gets to work on sourcing all possible options for you to consider. This list is likely to include off-market stock for you to consider as well as on-market options.

3. Time to inspect! From the properties presented, you will nominate which ones you wish the advocate to inspect. Majority of the time, the advocate will complete the first round inspection and video the property for you. Sometimes, the property has limited access and you may attend the property with the advocate for the first time together.

4. Second round inspections. From the list of properties that have been screened, inspected and filmed by the advocate, you will nominate which ones you would like to inspect together. Advocates will always try and make private appointments for these where possible but sometimes inspections are limited to the advertised open homes.

5. Eat, Sleep, Repeat! You will repeat steps three and four until you have found a property you deem ‘the one’. Once identified, the advocate will complete due diligence for you such as arranging building and pest inspections, speaking with the councils about any upcoming plans, ringing body corporates if it’s an apartment block and even getting feedback from the neighbours in the area in some cases to unveil as much information as humanly possible.

6. Now we buy! Whether it is a private sale, expressions of interest or an auction, an advocate will represent you through this process. They will consult you along the way if it is a negotiation situation or when it comes to auction bidding, they will likely get you to agree on a bidding limit prior to auction.