Buyers Don't Know How Much Time Their Agent Spent on Their Transaction: Survey

The value of a buyer's agent has never been called into question more than it has in 2023. The class-action lawsuit that alleged real estate organizations collaborated to inflate commissions was ruled on in October, and agents can expect more questions moving forward from buyers about their commission rate and what they do to earn it.

They might end up explaining a great deal. A recent research project by WAV Group analyzed responses from more than 300 buyers, asking them whether their agent fully earned their commission and what they felt were the most valuable parts of the process. Here's a sampling of what was uncovered.

'How much time did your agent spend on your transaction?'

Agents are not doing a very good job of communicating their efforts and the amount of time they spend to buyers, whose responses were all over the map when asked how many hours their agent spent on their deal.

The largest proportion of respondents (21%) said they thought their agent spent between 11 to 15 hours working on their home purchase transaction. Another 21% of buyers collectively said they thought their agent spent at least 26 hours on their home purchase.

However, a cumulative one-in-four buyers said that their agent spent 10 or fewer hours on their home sale transaction: 9% said 1 to 5 hours, and 16% said 6 to 10 hours.

While it is possible that there is indeed a wide variation in the amount of hours these different buyer's agents worked, a more likely explanation is that many buyers simply were not clear on what their agent did or how much time it took.

'Was your agent fairly paid?'

WAV Group asked buyers whether they felt their agent was fairly paid, overpaid, or underpaid. The overwhelming majority said they felt their agent was fairly paid (87%).

That's good news! The fact that buyers do not have a clear idea of how much time their agents spend on their needs indicates that they do not completely understand the home purchase process. They don't have a firm grasp on all of the steps required, what their agent will do to assist them, and what work they will need to do. And this presents an opportunity for agents to explain more of the process to their clients.

First-time buyers especially do not have a clear grasp of what documents they might need to get a mortgage, what a seller's disclosure is, how appraisals work, and much more. Creating clarity for them around all disclosures and documents is one way agents can show their value to buyers.

One way agents can help combat this lack of understanding is to build a presentation that explains each step in the process, and also includes what they will be doing on the buyer's behalf to help complete that step. This can be helpful for setting expectations with buyers.

Related reading

• The Jury Has Ruled on Commissions: What Are the Next Steps?
• 184 Things You Do for Real Estate Clients (and they don't even know it)