Here are a few simple things that a good real estate broker will do for you when assisting you with a purchase of Manhattan property.

1- Help you to get a pre approval or recommend you to a lender. Most experienced Manhattan real estate brokers will be able to recommend you to a lender that will help you to at least have a pre approval on hand when you go to make an offer.

2- Interpret data- These days, the general public has access to data from many sources including streeteasy, zillow, and trulia. What may be missing is the interpretation of the data and in some cases that can best be done by an experienced real estate broker. Why did an apartment sell below market value? What about a foreclosure or auction purchase? Is the market going up or going down? What is an appropriate amount to seek to negotiate the asking price? All questions that I have heard and there are very specific answers depending on the market conditions and the individual property.

3- Do some due diligence for you. Your lawyer will do due diligence for you once you have an accepted offer. They search for potential issues with neighbors or a major capital project coming down the pipeline by reading the minutes of the Board meetings. But a good real estate broker knows the questions to ask the seller’s rep to get a lot of information that will save you the time and cost of having the attorney find out later or worse, you find out after you move in. Why are the common charges and taxes so high on this given building? What other construction projects are happening nearby that may affect the views of the apartment?

4- Be familiar with local condo projects, new store openings or anything else that may affect the future value of your purchase. No one has a crystal ball to know what will happen in the future. But an experienced Manhattan broker will be able to guide you to the neighborhoods that will see the greatest appreciation if you are looking for an investment. Or they can tell you if you are renovating a townhouse, what the layout most desired by buyers would be as well as the type of finishes or amenities that you should include.

5- Protect your interests always and especially ahead of their own. Of course when you close, the real estate broker gets paid but there must always be a clear indication that they will protect your interests ahead of their own. A few years ago, a client asked me what I thought of a potential townhouse. I told him that the square footage was incorrect because it included the below grade which does not count and the price per square foot was too high. Ideally, your Manhattan buyer broker is going to realize that he must protect your interests even if that means you do not buy.

Obviously, there are many other things that a buyer broker will do for you when assisting you to purchase a co-op, condo or townhouse in the NYC market but these are 5 important ones.

The Author-  Brian Silvestry , a licensed real estate broker, has been selling residential and commercial real estate since 1999. He has sold in every Manhattan market from Battery Park City to Washington Heights.

Whether you are thinking of buying a Manhattan apartment for $300k or $100 million, a buyer’s agent is essential to your success. When you venture out to open houses, the agents that you meet are seller’s agents meaning that they negotiate for the seller and are responsible to be honest with you. The seller and his agent are looking for the highest possible price and anything that you say can tip them off to your urgency or desire to complete the purchase. A buyer’s agent among other things can advise you if and how much you can negotiate based on their market knowledge and recent sales. He or she can arrange an attorney for you and refer you a lender if needed.

A buyer’s agent is your advocate. He can look into neighboring developments to see if there are any plans for a future building that will wipe out your wonderful views. He can also advise you throughout the transactions when you have questions so that you have someone that you trust to decide if what you hearing from various sources is normal and fair.

A buyer agent can also preview properties like new developments for you and save you time to see if there are offerings that match your needs. You might not want or be able to make a visit to a new development sales office but your buyer agent can do it for you and send your photos and relay information.

There are many things that a buyer agent can do for you regardless of how much you want to spend on your Manhattan pad.  Best of all,  there is no additional cost to you as both the seller’s agent and your buyer agent are paid out of the proceeds of the sale.  In short, just like you have a lawyer to represent you, make sure you have a good agent that you can trust to protect your interests as well.