Discussing Buyers Agency 101 at New Zealand's first Real Estate Conference

Last week I had the pleasure of presenting at the first ever New Zealand Real Estate Conference (NZREC) on what it means to be a buyer's agent. The tickets were a sell out and it was brilliant to have so many representatives of our industry in one place.

Australia has AREC, the USA has more real estate conferences then you can shake a stick at, and Europe has MIPIM which is really an excuse to shmooze over champagne and compare boat sizes in Cannes.  It's about time New Zealand had its own real estate focussed conference and a big shout out to sales superstar Diego Traglia for being a driving force in creating this.

While it was an honour to be invited to speak, my challenge was to explain to real estate professionals across the country why someone would choose to work with a buyer's agent when it's so new here, and why it is beneficial to agents listing and selling homes.

There are four key benefits for agents to consider:

1. A buyer's agent brings qualified, retained buyers. This means less wasting time with buyers who lack motivation or tyre kickers.
2. A buyer's agent understands the market and property values. This avoids time wasting on homes that are out of reach from the start.
3. Quicker due diligence when a buyer's agent is involved, focussing on bringing together all consultants quickly and turning around important DD like building inspections and finance approval.
4. We are paid only by our buyer clients and accept no conjunctional arrangements, cash backs or referral fees. This allows us to act completely independently and serve our buyer's best interests.

While the business goes from strength to strength (hurrah!), reaching this point has been incredibly challenging and a good reminder of the importance of resilience in the face of "no". I was surprised when I established the business just how many industry leaders stated that New Zealand had no need for buyer's agencies, and I was quoted too often "Kiwis have DIY in their DNA" and as such would be happy to invest plenty of time, energy and money into house hunting on their own. There were so many challenges along the journey; working through the Real Estate Authority Rules, adapting documents and processes to New Zealand, sourcing specialist indemnity insurance from overseas, building a custom website, creating manuals and processes to grow the team, and generally overcoming the attitude that buyers are on their own.

One thing that became apparent through this process was the importance of always aiming to be the best. Have the best systems, hold the best relationships, give the best customer services, and deliver the best results. Any sales agent will say the same for their work; you have to aim to be the best in everything you do to be successful in real estate.

It was great to be amongst like-minded people, sharing ideas and hearing some brilliant speakers, and having the opportunity to share the work that we do which we are so passionate about. I do not doubt that more buyer's agents will pop up across the country in time, allowing buyers to choose to have their own representation, and I know that sales agent will benefit from this shift too.