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.