Conveying Your Value as a Buyer’s Agent
New York City’s real estate landscape is evolving, and with new agreement requirements, buyer’s agents have an opportunity to clearly define their value to clients like never before.
The StreetEasy team, joined by agents from the StreetEasy Experts program, visited The Real Deal’s offices, to give us a look at how they are guiding buyers through New York City’s complex market–and reinforcing why buy-side representation is essential to every successful transaction.
“There are so many steps to navigate during the process,” says Brown Harris Stevens Agent and StreetEasy Expert, Nora Ariffin. “It’s just not looking at apartments and showing apartments, it’s also knowing the building, knowing the comps, knowing the ins and outs of the process.”
Thriving in a Changing Marketplace
With new industry regulations reshaping agent-client interactions, successful agents and StreetEasy Experts, like Nora Ariffin and Christopher Kromer are embracing these changes as an opportunity to strengthen client relationships, enhance transparency, and showcase their expertise.
Kromer, a Brown Harris Stevens agent, StreetEasy Expert, and StreetEasy Agent Advisory Board member emphasizes that the value an agent brings remains the same. “We are still a broker that walks hand in hand with the client in support of their goals.”
Ariffin emphasizes how, with more pressure on agents to perform, newcomers should choose mentors carefully and learn from the best.
“If you have senior brokers around you, you learn from listening, from watching, from shadowing them,” says Ariffin. “It’s important to lean on more experienced brokers, because you just don’t know everything.”
How StreetEasy Champions NYC Buyer’s Agents
StreetEasy continues to advocate for buyer’s agents, ensuring their expertise is recognized and that buyers understand why professional representation is essential.
Through their “Never DIY The Buy” campaign, StreetEasy is amplifying this message across multiple channels — reinforcing the critical role of buyer’s agents by highlighting how they don’t just help clients avoid potential pitfalls, but also serve as strategic partners throughout one of the most significant transactions of their lives.
“A buyer’s agent is a trusted advisor, a hyper-local expert, networker and negotiator, a shoulder to cry on, and an advocate that keeps their clients best interests at heart at all times,” explains Sinead Ortuzar, Partner Marketing Manager at StreetEasy.
The buyer’s agent is particularly crucial in New York City, where most residents spend decades as renters before buying a property in a highly complex real estate market.
“The buying process is entirely different from renting, and an agent plays an important role at every step of the process,” says Carlo Romero, Senior Partner Engagement Manager at StreetEasy. “That’s why we are getting loud about the value of a buyer’s agent.”
StreetEasy is making this message clear—leveraging email, social media, blog content, and PR to reach both buyers and agents with the tools and information they need.
To learn more about StreetEasy’s resources for agents and buyers, visit their latest industry standards hub.