Realtors® are trained in the law, experienced in the local market, and savvy on the sales tools to help you find your home or to sell your home. As your agent, we advise you on the appearance of your home, the competition and the general market.

We, as Realtors®, handle standard Texas-promulgated forms covering most aspects of real estate sales, and are familiar with Federal forms and other legal documents used to convey properties and those used to obtain mortgage loans. We also work with attorneys when required.

The process to buy a house is complex and takes a few weeks to complete, sometimes several weeks. Our objective is to guide you through this process, based on our experience, so that you worry less about procedures and concentrate more on the move itself and your own needs.

Brokers put buyers in touch with sellers and assist in the negotiations. When acting as agents, brokers also advise their clients about strategy, tactics and other factors to negotiate better.

Real estate brokers are licensed by TREC, the Texas Real Estate commission, to practice throughout Texas, and as Realtors®, we subscribe to a strict Code of Ethics. We generally operate in a local market area that we are famlliar with.

Realtors® belong to associations, or boards, of real estate brokers in a market area. Board members cooperate with each other so that buyers do not have to visit each listing broker to find out what properties are available.

The Texas Association of Realtors® and attorneys from the real estate industry meet regularly to discuss issues in the industry and to provide standard document forms for Realtors® to use.  These forms are promulgated by regulators from the Texas Real Estate Commission or available to board members through TAR.  If contracts must be modified, an attorney must draft them. 

By law, a broker and his Realtors® represent the Seller of a property, not the Buyer. When you contact the real estage agent on the yard sign, you're calling the Seller's advisor and confidant. By law, an agent of a person must jealously protect his client's interest, even above his own. This requirement is know as Fidelity. Keep this in mind, when you're tempted to call the listing agent.

You, as a Buyer, are not represented by a Realtor® unless you sign a written agency agreement. Although an agent of another person cannot lie to you, he does not have to disclose everything he knows that might help you.  The National Association of Realtors® (NAR) certifies Realtors® who have been trained to assist buyers and have closed a certain number of sales for buyers.  These certified agents are called Accredited Buyers Representative (ABR). 

This general fact is disclosed on the Information About Brokerage Services form that you, as Buyer, are given on your initial meeting with a Realtor®. The other relationship that a Realtor® can have with a Buyer is Intermediary, which is also described briefly on the IBS.