BUYER’S AGENCY FOR MOUNTAIN RANCH PROPERTY BUYERS
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Aspen Ranch Real Estate United Country Colorado Brokers Hotchkiss, CO 81419 Broker Associate, ranch specialist CLICK TO EMAIL GARY HUBBELL Office Phone 970 872 3322 Home Phone 970-921-5588 Cell Phone 970-988-2122 |  |
Colorado ranch real estate buyers should know that there are tips and tricks to buying ranch real estate, horse properties, hunting and fishing properties, cattle ranches, and vacation homes. It helps to have a broker solidly on your side.
In Colorado, brokers have three choices of how to represent real estate clients: buyer’s agent, seller’s agent, or transaction broker. What’s the difference?
SELLER’S AGENT
When a broker lists a property for sale, he or she typically chooses to represent the seller as a seller’s agent. That means that the broker is contractually bound to offer all assistance to the seller, including offering advice to the seller on the terms and conditions of a sale, tendering all offers to the seller in a timely manner, and generally acting in the best interests of the seller.
BUYER’S AGENT
When a buyer is looking for property, a buyer’s agent is contractually bound to represent the best interests of the buyer. As a real estate buyer, that means you have a broker solidly in your corner looking out for you. A buyer’s agent is duty bound to make sure you drive the best possible bargain and advise you through the buying process.
TRANSACTION BROKER
What’s this? Well, a transaction broker is a real estate agent who simply helps put the deal together. It’s rather like a basketball game—there’s Team A and Team B, and the referee. A transaction broker is the referee. He can legally be both the listing agent and a selling agent on a transaction, which means he or she typically earns both sides of the commission on a sale. Many times a Colorado broker will write a contract whereby he is the selling agent on a listing, unless a buyer comes to him and seeks to purchase the property. At that point, he becomes a transaction broker for both parties.
A really good transaction broker can help put a sale together because he understands the needs of both parties. He must be scrupulously honest, looking out for the buyer’s interests, while getting a good price for the seller. If you have an unscrupulous transaction broker, you might find out later that you didn’t get all that was promised you, or you paid too much.
That’s why you must carefully choose the broker who represents you. If you’re looking for a suburban tract home in Colorado Springs, there are hundreds of brokers who know that market. If you’re looking for commercial property in Grand Junction, other brokers know the market there. However, good ranch real estate brokers are few and far between—and you’ve found one with me.
I offer buyer’s agency to the clients I represent. You choose to work with me because of my knowledge and expertise, not because of my cowboy boots or winning smile. You want me to represent you because of my knowledge of Colorado ranches, horse properties, cattle ranches, outfitting businesses, dude ranches, ski vacation homes, Aspen real estate, and agricultural properties. I will be your tireless advocate and I will do my best to properly advise you so that you will be happy with your purchase.
Of course, any real estate transaction is best reviewed by legal, tax, and accounting professionals. Ranches often have unusual title and tax issues. Knowing the right team of experts is a big plus for your transaction. Water lawyers, hydrologists, geologists, range specialists, mineral rights attorneys, custom farmers, are all a phone call away.
ONE-STOP SHOPPING FOR YOUR RANCH SEARCH
USE ONE BROKER AS YOUR BUYER’S AGENT
When beginning a Colorado ranch search, many buyers start out by contacting several different brokers in various parts of the state, asking for the same set of desirable attributes on their “wish list”: over 200 acres, backs up to National Forest, within 1 ½ hours of a major ski area, good elk hunting and fly-fishing, not over $4.5 million. Well, Colorado is a big state, but not that big, and by the time six or seven brokers call all their contacts with your wish list, they’ll be tripping all over each other. You will end up with a tangled web of broker agreements, discouraged brokers, and hard feelings. I’ll call another broker’s office on your behalf and I’ll get the reply, “Oh, yeah, that’s the buyer that has contacted every broker in this half of the state. Not interested.”
A PROUD MEMBER OF THE REALTORS’ LAND INSTITUTE
I represent buyers all over Colorado. I’m a proud member of the Realtors’ Land Institute, and I’m connected with 120 top ranch brokers, land brokers, and resort property brokers all over the state, from La Junta to Sterling, Durango to Steamboat and all points in between. We have four meetings a year where we present properties to the group at large, so we stay tuned to market conditions and hot new properties on a statewide basis. Suffice it to say, I know of hundreds of ranches and other cool properties all across Colorado, and with one or two phone calls, I can find out pertinent information about practically any property in the state.
Make it easy on yourself and use one broker as your buyer’s broker! I’m not egotistical; I know you’re going to do your research and you’ll find properties that I didn’t send you. If you dig up a property and email me the specs, I’ll be happy to run it through the screening process. You can save yourself a lot of time, emailing, phone calls, and brain damage by working with one broker for your Colorado property search—but make sure that broker is well connected and knowledgeable about properties on a state-wide basis.
