Buying agent

Buying agents or purchasing agents are people or companies that offer to buy goods or property on behalf of another party. There are agents for all kinds of products, from raw material commodities through to specialized custom equipment.

In the United States, agents who buy real estate in this way are also known as property search agents or buyers’ agents and are professionals exclusively acting on behalf of a property buyer who assists the client during the entire purchasing process from sourcing the properties that correspond to the clients' requirements to negotiating the best possible price and terms with the seller and helping the client during the legal process to complete the acquisition.

Buying agents often preview properties on behalf of their clients, shortlist the most suitable, and usually accompany clients to all viewings. In order to ensure the most efficient property viewing experience, most agents offer a chauffeur and sometimes even helicopter viewings to their high-end clients. Often they will also offer personal concierge services which can schedule all viewings, book hotels, transfers and other amenities for the client. These services can be particularly useful to international clients who tend to fly in to view properties. In addition agents are typically able to connect the client with all necessary technical trades people who are required at different stages of the buying process such as lawyers, surveyors and other professionals.

Buying agents might have access to off-market properties through their network of contacts, although this depends on the market conditions and on how well connected the agent is locally.

The ethical behavior is a very important aspect to measure the professionalism of a buying agent: at any time they must advise their clients with no self-interest for their own success fee.

While initially buying agents catered exclusively to wealthier demographics, lately, especially in more competitive markets like London or Paris, the entry-level has significantly dropped to properties valued at around £500,000 or €500,000 (see The Daily Telegraph,)

A prospect buyer will typically decide what their priorities are before hiring a buying agent because there are different types of companies in the market and the mix of benefits they provide can vary significantly. Company sizes also differ, ranging from one-man-bands to organizations with 50+ professionals.

At one end of the spectrum lie the super introduced local property experts who can be an invaluable resource for a buyer who is set on off-market or pre-market properties as well as private deals. These professionals are often able to source off-market because they have close ties with estate agents (or, in the United States, real estate brokers), they know other local intermediaries who may flag exclusive confidential deals, such as lawyers, private bankers, investment managers or other professionals and they sometimes know personally the owners of the best luxury properties for sale in the area they cover. If this is what the buyer is looking for then the size of the company is less relevant as contacts are made over time and lie in the hands of a few experienced professionals who may operate within larger organizations as well as on their own. Buying agents also often have close ties with property developers where the agent can get access to new properties before they come onto the open market.

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Wikipedia