Buyer Beware

Probably like most Americans of a certain age, I first heard the phrase caveat emptor in the Brady Bunch episode in which Greg buys a car he was told would be easy to fix up but isn’t.  Like “Find out what you do best and do your best with it”, “caveat emptor…let the buyer beware” is a Brady maxim I like to live by.

Back in the days of sub-agency (everyone worked for the seller and no one represented the buyer’s interests in a real estate transaction), all real estate was very much a buyer beware proposition.  Now, however, the buyer has the right to representation by an agent who is working on that buyer’s behalf.

The buyer pays for this representation when they purchase the house.  Their money, which goes to the seller, is then used to pay the brokerage and its agent who listed the house and the brokerage and agent that brought the buyer.  The cost of representation is all part and parcel of the purchase price of the home.  Therefore, doesn’t it make sense that the buyer of the property….the person spending a HUGE chunk of money, should have someone representing them in that transaction, escpecially since they don’t have to pay extra to get it?

In today’s Tri-City Herald we learned about some people taken for a ride by a developer. This developer does not work with Realtors.  It kills me that these people didn’t seek the advice of a Realtor.  It kills me that they thought they were in good hands with someone who was clearly not acting in their best interest.

I’m not saying every single developer who doesn’t work with Realtors and licensed agents is out to take every penny a person owns.  I just want people to remember ol’ Mike Brady’s words of wisdom; caveat emptor…let the buyer beware.