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Whenever a purchaser is not using a real estate agent that is exclusively acting for them, they run the risk of having a lopsided contract in favour of the vendor. This was brought to my attention recently when a client of mine negotiated a pre-sale contract a year ago. It is scheduled to complete this February, and the completion date was pushed back a month. No big deal right?

Let's first have a look at what a good buyer'sreal estate agent would be doing for you. Your real estate agent is a property professional that knows their respective domain inside out. A buyer's agent will act on behalf of the buyer and the purchaser alone. As a purchaser, your interests are their interests. If clauses, dates, terms or conditionswithin your contract are not beneficial to you, your agent will advise such.The buying agent hasa fiduciary duty to protect a buyer and act in their best interest. With your agent on your side, you can be assured that any issues or discrepancies with respect to your purchase transaction will be managed in a timely fashion.

Purchasing directly from a developer in the case of pre-sale new construction is not an exception. Many consumers feel that walking directly into a pre-sale sales centre and negotiating directly with the sales agent is the most beneficial way to get the best deal. This is a common and understandable mistake. The only thing it does is leave a purchaser exposed without protection for their own interests in the transaction.

Hiring a buying agent does not costa buyerany money. The purchasing agent is paid commission from the seller. In the case of a new development, the builder is the vendor. A sales agent may try to convince you not to use a buying agent; however you have to recognize this for what it is and where the advice is originating from. At this point you do not have a representation agreement in place with the developer'ssales agent. However the sales agent is working for the builder and guaranteed they already have their agreement in place with the developer. The sales agent actsfor the developer before you even walk in the door.

The dangers for a buyer are large, and the list is long. I will simply entertain a few risks.

Instead of "subject to" clauses, you have what is called a "right of rescission" period. Once you eliminate your right of rescission, you are legally bound to complete on that transaction. A purchaser may not be aware the type of due diligence they must do prior to eliminating that right of rescission. After all, as a typical buyer that negotiates a property purchase contract only a few times in their lifetime the consumer is by far not an expert. Due diligence is an extremely fundamental part of purchasing. The type of due diligence executed on a new construction project is a bit different thaton an existing built property.If a person hasn't done real estate transactions frequently, they will not know what to do due diligence on.

Giving the builder (or their agent)the mostdeposit you can possibly scrape together. Again, the average consumer does not realize that between purchaser and seller this how the game is played: The seller asks for the largest deposit they can, the purchaser asks for the least. You meet somewhere in the middle. Any real estate agent will advise you what you are really negotiating here is risk exposure. The risk for the developer is that you are not putting up enough money to fully commit to the deal and could walk. The risk to the buyer is that the buildermay not complete their contract performance commitments, delivering the buyer a sub quality product, or in worst case scenario none at all. As a purchaser, you want to put the least amount of your money at risk. You will also want to give that money to a lawyer that is acting on your behalf whenever possible.

My personal fav of items is one that is very frequently bypassed by non-represented purchasers.

Non-performance consequences. This is the area that my clients mentioned above would fall under. One year ago, the developer stated the build would be ready to complete this February. Moving the date back would constitute non-performance if negotiated into their original contract. Moving the date back on transaction may or may not have a detrimental effect on the buyers. In my clients' case it does though. When they did their pre-approval rate hold it was valid for 120 days. The mortgage market increased the rates for their product 115 days previously by .4% . This might not sound like a lot, but when we are talking about a $700,000 mortgage it translates to aroughly $13,000over their mortgage term.This is a lot of deniros.

Since my clients did not use a buying agent to negotiate their purchase, this was not written into their contract. They have no recourse. These buyers will have to swallow that big pill. In this case it is in fact a big deal. This risk can be limitedifaddressedthrough proper contract structure.

No Agent equals no protection. I have a short list of experienced trustedreal estate professionals I work with that have impeccable track records each with their respective market expertise. Apply today for your pre-approval rate hold, and I can forward you on to a real estate professional whose market niche fits your requirements.

If you want to get started onprotecting your buying position in real estate, visit http://www.michaelmcivor.com/ and click on the "apply now" buttonto get the ball rolling. My expertise can put you in the strongest buying position possible.

:: Michael McIvor - michael@michaelmcivor.com