Should buyers have an agent when building?

With school starting tomorrow in Academy School District 20, I am reminded that the summer flew by.  How was it that we only made it to the pool twice this summer?  Well, it was a cooler and wetter summer than that past seven, but I think it also has to do with the local market.  Ann and I were very busy this summer with our business.  We managed to service several out of town buyers – most of whom were military transferring to District 20.

I was recently asked by one of these new clients who was considering building a new home in Colorado Springs.   They wanted to know if the builder would give them a price break if they were not represented by an agent.  It was pretty ironic that this question came up when it did, because just a couple days earlier, we had a local builder at our sales meeting and the exact same question came up during the meeting.  Their response did not surprise me.  They were very clear in stating that the price of the home to the buyer would be the same whether or not they were represented by an agent.  The reason being, “why would we bite the hand that feeds us?  If word got out that we provided a discount to unrepresented buyers, the agents in the area would stop bringing their clients to see our homes.  We want our buyers to be represented by an agent, it makes our job easier.”  So it was a quick and easy response to my client.  

The more I thought about this question, the more I realized that other buyers probably had the same thought.  But keep this in mind, if the buyer is not represented, who is watching out for their interests, the builder?

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