The Via Domus Team provides expert guidance for buyers across Hartford County and Litchfield County, helping you navigate every step with confidence.
Buying a Home in Connecticut Made Simple
Why You Need the Via Domus Team
of William Raveis Real Estate by Your Side!
Buying a home is one of the most important decisions you will make. Whether you are a first-time buyer or experienced homeowner, having the right strategy and guidance can make the process smoother, more efficient, and more successful.
Step 1: Initial Consultation
Step 2: Mortgage Pre-Approval
Step 3: Home Search
Step 4: Making an Offer
Step 5: Inspection & Due Diligence
Step 6: Closing
Your Home Buying Journey
A Buyer Representation Agreement is a legal document that formalizes your working relationship with a particular buyer’s representative, detailing what services you are entitled to and what your buyer’s rep expects from you in return. While the language used in the document is formal, homebuyers should view it as an important and helpful tool for clarifying expectations, developing mutual loyalty, and most importantly, elevating the services you will receive.
Buyer Representation Agreement
If you have formalized an agency relationship with a buyer’s rep, you can expect to be treated like a client instead of a customer. What is the difference? Clients are entitled to superior services, relative to customers. While the details vary from state to state, and from one buyer’s agent to another, you can generally assume that being a client means that you have formed a fiduciary, or agency relationship with your buyer’s rep.
Receive a higher level of service
Avoid misunderstandings
A Buyer’s Representation Agreement clarifies expectations, helping you understand what you should and should not expect from your buyer’s rep, and what they will expect from you, which usually centers on loyalty.
Marketing: If the listing broker or seller is offering compensation for the buyer’s broker, the listing agent can share that offer through their marketing, such as in flyers, signs or emails.
Website displays: A broker can show offers of compensation for their listings on their website display. Brokers must not display offers of compensation for other broker’s listings on their website display. You can show other brokers’ compensation on your listings if you don’t get it from MLS data or an MLS feed.
Seller concessions: Sellers may elect to offer concessions to the buyer, which may be used for items like paying for the buyer’s closing costs or the commission for the buyer’s agent. If the local MLS allows, such concessions can be communicated on the MLS within designated fields. However, any concessions listed cannot be conditioned on the use of or payment to a buyer broker.
Ways to negotiate and communicate offers of compensation
Negotiations: Buyers may request that their agent include broker compensation as part of the terms of a purchase offer.
Buyer agreements: NAR’s proposed settlement agreement will require buyers and their agents to enter into written agreements before touring homes. These agreements will detail the compensation for using the buyer broker’s services. In almost every case, home sellers have already agreed to pay a buyer’s agent’s commission. If they have not, you can ask your buyer’s rep to avoid showing you any such homes. Or you can still view the home, knowing that you will need to factor your agent’s commission into any offer you may write. While buyers rarely pay real estate commissions, this is an important detail you will want to discuss with your buyer’s rep and clarify in their representation agreement.
While most representation agreements specify a time period, they can be terminated early if both party’s consent. Most buyer’s reps are willing to end the agreement early if the working relationship is not going well. Some buyer’s reps offer representation agreements for as little as one day, for the purpose of giving both parties a brief trial period to explore working together.
Agency relationship & mutual consent
When you and your buyer’s rep work together within a formalized agency relationship, you have created a team dedicated to helping you achieve the best possible home-buying experience.
Strength as a team
Property Search
The Via Domus Team will assess your criteria for a house and towns you desire to live in, then set up a search for properties that fit those specifications. You have a personalized search portal to log into and view these properties photos and information. The Via Domus Team will set appointments for showings and monitor the market as new listings become available.
There may be other considerations besides price that are equally important in structuring a purchase offer. The terms and conditions of the offer, amount of deposit and possession date are likely to be factors when an offer is made. The Via Domus Team will help in your preparation of a purchase offer.
Purchase Offer
When a purchase offer is made, the sellers may be concerned with certain aspects including the ability of the purchasers to fulfill their agreement, the terms and conditions of the offer, the breakdown of closing costs between the buyer and seller and even the motivation and lifestyle of the prospective new owners. The Via Domus Team will help structure a negotiating strategy that will create the desired results, a new home.
Negotiating
Market Data
Market value is determined by many factors, including the availability of similar properties at competitive prices, location, condition, and most of all, the price that a knowledgeable buyer is willing to pay. The Via Domus Team will provide market data to help you establish an offering price.
Sellers list their homes with real estate agents to ensure professional representation throughout the home selling process. As a buyer, you deserve the same kind of service and representation!
There are additional things to be considered between signing the purchase offer and moving into a new home, such as home inspection, appraisal, mortgage commitment, etc. The Via Domus Team will attend to the details and keep you in touch with the transaction each step of the way.
Handling Details
The Via Domus Team has received training in the real estate, mortgage and settlement services processes and are certified homeownership professionals. This means they can help both buyers and sellers navigate the homeownership process and negotiation process, making the transition seamless and stress free.
Certified Homeownership Professionals
Why Work With The Via Domus Team
• Local market expertise in Connecticut
• Personalized home search strategy
• Skilled negotiation on your behalf
• Guidance from start to closing
Let’s create a plan that fits your goals and timeline.
Ready to Start Your Home Search?
We help buyers throughout Hartford County and Litchfield County, including Avon, Farmington, Simsbury, Bristol, Burlington, Canton, Torrington, Litchfield, Harwinton, New Hartford, Plymouth, and surrounding communities.
Serving Connecticut Home Buyers
If you are buying your first home, we guide you through financing, home selection, and the entire process so you feel confident every step of the way.
First-Time Home Buyers
“Mike and Brenda are amazing people who stand behind their clients 100%, even after the sale. They are very patient and will make you feel like you are shopping for a home with your own parents. I was so anxious to find something that at one point I almost settled, they talked me through everything and helped me be patient until I found what I was looking for. I had no knowledge of home buying or the things to look for when doing so and they shared so much of their knowledge and taught me so much, that will stick with me forever! Thank you, Mike and Brenda, you are the best! Highly Recommend!”
- Kristalyn Brackett — Buyer in Torrington, CT
