Sometimes when people are looking to build a new home in the New Jersey area there’s a little bit of confusion about the best way to get things done. And when you have three parties involved—the buyer, the broker, and the builder—you may wonder who really wins when the deal gets done.
The good news is that when it’s done right everybody wins! The confusion and skepticism come from some basic misinformation or misunderstandings about how this is supposed to work. Let’s take a look at a couple of areas where that can happen.
Some brokers can be under the impression that a builder will offer a better deal to the homebuyer if they agree to “cut out the middle man”—that is, the buyer’s broker. No reputable builder who wants to stay around would dream of telling a buyer to cut out the broker. They know that the broker is the one who brought in the business in the first place. Offering to deal like that would kill any future business a builder might get through that broker—and any of his colleagues in the business. Reputable builders simply will not attempt to negotiate a lower price based on the amount that would have gone to an agent/broker.
In a similar way, some brokers may get a little nervous if the buyer goes straight to the builder to talk—without involving him up front. Maybe the broker didn’t introduce the buyer to this particular builder, and he or she is concerned about being left out of the picture. The fact of the matter is that most new home sales staff have been trained to ask potential clients if they are working with an agent—even if the agent didn’t bring them to the table. Again, builders know the crucial role brokers play in their success. They are not going to risk that to skim off a few hundred dollars.
So what can you do as a broker to make sure things go smoothly? Make sure your clients (the buyer) understand that they need tell a builder about their relationship with you from the start—even if they are just looking for ideas. That gives the builder a heads-up. Another thing you can do as a broker is to register your clients with builders you think might be a good fit ahead of time. Again, that helps the builder keep you in the loop and avoids confusion.
So who wins when brokers and builders work together? Everybody. The builder gets more business traffic. The broker closes more deals. And the buyer get’s to see homes that better represent what he or she is looking for. It’s a win-win-win situation.