| Buyer's Representation
ABRŪ - Accredited Buyer's Representative
Why use an Accredited Buyer's Representative (ABRŪ) in a real estate transaction?
A designated ABRŪ is the benchmark of excellence in buyer representation. This coveted designation is awarded to real estate practitioners by the Real Estate BUYER'S AGENT Council (REBAC) of the National Association of REALTORSŪ who meet the specified educational and practical experience criteria.
A "Buyer's Agent" is an Advocate for the Buyer, not the Seller.
Description of Duties of a REALTORŪ Buyer's Agent
A "Buyer Agent" is obligated to the Buyer to:
*act solely in the best interests of the buyer, except that a buyer agent, after written disclosure to the buyer and with the buyer's written consent, may represent multiple buyers interested in buying the same property or similar properties to the property in which the buyer is interested or show properties in which the buyer is interested to other prospective buyers without breaching any obligation to the buyer;
*obey promptly and efficiently all lawful instructions of the buyer;
*disclose all relevant and material information that concerns the real estate transaction and that is known to the buyer agent and not known or discoverable by the buyer, unless the information is subject to confidentiality arising from a prior existing agency relationship on the part of the buyer agent with another buyer or seller;
*safeguard the buyer's confidences;
*exercise reasonable care, skill, and diligence in pursuing the buyer's objectives and in complying with the terms established in the Buyer/Broker agreement;
*fully account to the buyer for any funds or property of the buyer that comes into the buyer agent's possession; and
*comply with all applicable federal and state laws, rules and regulations.
A "Buyer Agent" is obligated to the Seller to:
*disclose any adverse material facts that are known to the buyer agent and that concern the ability of the buyer to perform on any purchase offer;
*disclose to the seller or the seller agent when the buyer agent has no personal knowledge of the veracity of information regarding adverse material facts that concern the buyer;
*act in good faith with a seller and a seller agent; and
*comply with all applicable federal and state laws, rules and regulations.
This information is provided to buyer's in order to better understand the benefits of choosing a Buyer's Agent over a Listing Agent or Dual Agent. A Buyer's Agent represents you the Buyer, a Listing Agent represents the Seller and a Dual Agent represents both a Buyer and a Seller. Thus when you call on a house for sale on a property sign or a property is listed for sale on a Listing Agent's web site, you are almost assuredly going to get a Seller's Agent representation. The only way you can find out for sure who the Agent represents is to ask them.
All the listings you find at my web site are from my member association as a Broker with the Helena Multiple Listing Service. This is very important, as a Member I have sub-agent relationships with the Brokers in the MLS. Currently (and buyers will hope this does not change), the seller pays the commission to the Listing Agent who then pays as per the MLS listing agreement, a portion of the commision to the Selling Agent (Buyer's Agent). Thus, unless you choose to do so (and there may be good reasons to do so) the cost of my service is most often born by the seller at closing in a Helena Multiple Listing Service transaction.
To give my clients a head start, I have written an article on client advocacy and how to work smart with a REALTOR. It is my sincere hope that you will find it both helpful and enlightening. It can be found under Lynda Lynde Articles: Real Estate Client Advocacy - How to Achieve a "Win-Win" Real Estate REALTOR Experience.
Sincerely,
Lynda Brown Lynde, Broker/Owner, ABR, CRS, GRI, WHS
Lynda Lynde Realty, LLC
Lynda@HelenaMontana.info
Lynda Lynde Realty, LLC, Helena, 296 Willowbrook DR, Helena, MT 59602 
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