The real estate business is a convoluted process that involves a multitude of people. There’s the buyer, seller and a whole lot of other people who are in liaison between the two. If you have any past experience of buying or selling property, then chances are you’ve already worked with such people.
The Agent: The real estate agent acts as the intermediary between the buyer and the seller. They are involved in key operations right from the start to the end like hunting for property, doing the needed research, negotiating the prices between them and so much more! If you want, you can start a letting agency, and do lettings as well. Agents can work for the buyer and seller simultaneously or cater to only one party. This is because the functions in each role are so very distinctive from one another.
The Seller’s agent: Seller’s agent or listing agent is the person who works for the seller. They are also known as listing agents, which as the name suggests, lists the property. It could be houses or office buildings. They can gauge the selling price of the property, help in the marketing of the property, manage open houses and showings where potential buyers can walk in and assess the place, answer queries coming from the buyer’s end, negotiate the price between the buyer and the seller and coordinate the sale which ultimately closes the deal. As you can see, they take care of the summumbonum process.
How are they paid? They take about 3% of the commission amount that was made from the sale. This is attributed by the seller in which a fraction is given to the buyer’s agent.
The Buyer’s agent: The buyer’s agent works for the buyer, plain and simple. They are also responsible for finding potential property, organizing house showings and walkthroughs, making deals on behalf of their clients and aiding the buyer through the entirety of the process.
Their commission is also taken care of by the seller, not the buyer. The commission here is pretty much the same, 3% of the sale price.
The Broker
The broker is far more qualified than your average real estate agent, plainly because he has formal educational qualifications. A broker can easily meet the criteria of a real estate agent but not vice versa. Owing to his degree, a broker can effectively open a firm and appoint agents to work under him. There are highly qualified experts like Forest Hill Real Estate and L’EquipePapachristouimmobiliers.
