In today’s changing real estate landscape, understanding the critical role of buyer representation has never been more essential for home sellers. With implementation of the National Association of Realtors ’settlement, many buyers may choose to forgo agents, and this can drastically affect a home seller.

Before the settlement, the home seller would provide the listing broker with a commission payment. (Of course, this money came from the buyer who was paying the total sales price of the home.) The listing broker would then share a portion of that commission with the buyer’s agent. Now, however, the buyer must pay their own agent directly. This means a homebuyer can no longer effectively roll their buyer agent compensation into their home loan. Instead, they must bring cash to the table to pay their agent. (A home seller can still choose to offer compensation to a home buyer directly, just not through their broker.) To avoid paying a buyer agent commission with cash that may be in short supply, many buyers may choose to be unrepresented. These buyers should be considered more than a minor hiccup. Their lack of knowledge can jeopardize the entire deal. What value does a seller receive if the buyer has professional representation? Let’s list the ways:

Lender connections: When home sales fall through, it is often because the loan does not come through for the buyer. Good buyer agents connect their buyers with well-vetted (and typically local) lenders who have proven time and again that they can close a transaction on time. In addition, buyer agents help ensure that buyers have delivered all necessary documentation to the lender for full underwriting. No seller wants their home sale to fall through because the home buyer had no idea what documents the lender needed.

Contract guidance: Buyer agents guide their clients through the purchase agreement and all contingencies, ensuring they understand the terms and conditions and their ability to fulfill their commitments, especially when waiving contingencies, which is often necessary in our uber competitive market. This should prevent the home buyer from reneging on the contract or asking the seller for last minute changes because they didn’t understand what they were signing in the first place.

Earnest money handling: Buyer agents ensure that earnest money funds are delivered on time. The main recourse a seller has if a buyer reneges on the contract is to retain the earnest money. A seller wants to have confidence it has been deposited.

Inspection access: If the buyer doesn’t have an agent, the listing agent must provide access for the home inspection. With knowledge of the inspection, the listing agent must now disclose any findings to all other buyers. In addition, a good buyer agent can help their buyer understand the inspection report, leading to a more reasonable post inspection request.

Negotiation support: The buyer agent will help negotiate and collaborate with the listing agent to ensure a mutual agreement is reached by all parties. The messiest transactions tend to involve unrepresented sellers (who believe their home is just fine and have always lived with those dripping faucets), and unrepresented home buyers (who believe the dripping faucet is about to cause the home to flood!).