Buying a Home

Michael Carr & Associates offers personalized and knowledgeable service to help you find the perfect home.

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Buyer's Agency Agreement
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The best home buying experience in the area

Looking for a new home in Georgia or South Carolina? Our team of experts, led by The Abundant Life Broker®, Michael Carr, is dedicated to helping you find the perfect home.

With a commitment to providing personalized service and a wealth of experience, we are confident that we can guide you through the buying process with ease. So why wait? Let us help you find your dream home today!

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Meet Your Team

3 company divisions

Real estate, investments & auctions.

78,000+ Transactions

Actively involved in the sale of over 78,000 homes.

1,200+ homes

Rehabbed, repaired or improved in North Georgia.

8,400+ auctions

Personally conducted, including charity benefits.

Michael Carr & Associates

'VIP' Property Search With Michael Carr & Associates

Looking for a new home in Georgia or South Carolina? Our team of experts, led by America's top selling real estate auctioneer Michael Carr, is dedicated to helping you find the perfect home.

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Dream Home Finder Put an experts eye on your home search! You’ll receive personalized matches of results delivered direct to you.

  • Tell us a little about your ideal home
  • What type of home are you looking for?
  • Please list them out
  • For example, $400,000 to $500,000
  • Where should we send your listings?

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Know Your Rights!

Exclusive buyer's agency agreement

This video describes one of the simplest ways to protect yourself throughout the buying process, and to ensure that you have an ally with your best interests in mind. SCHEDULE A CALL WITH US and make your dream home a reality.

Please don’t hesitate to contact your Michael Carr & Associates agent with any follow-up questions. And thank you for entrusting your dream home search to us!

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Frequently asked questions

FAQ

Exclusive Buyer’s Agency Agreement

An exclusive Buyer’s Agency Agreement is a document in which an Agent/Broker agrees and contracts to represent the Buyer in the purchase of a home or property. We require it for any property that we show at Michael Carr & Associates. There are a couple of reasons for that. First, we really need permission from a legality standpoint, making it clear who we represent in the transaction. By doing so, we are committing to be your best friend and to look after your interest and fiduciary responsibility.

All our sales people are required to be honest and to treat people with respect. Once you sign an Exclusive Buyer’s Agency Agreement, you are effectively saying that we are committing to be your best friend and that we have your back. Now we owe you complete loyalty as long as it is within the limits of the law. We are going to follow your instructions and recommend what’s best for you.

Yes, confidentiality is a very big thing to us. If you don’t sign an Exclusive Buyer’s Agency Agreement and you tell an agent that you’d be willing to pay up to $200,000.00 on a home (but the seller is only asking $190,000), there is nothing to stop the agent from telling the seller or the selling agent that their asking price is too low and that people would really be willing to pay $200,000.00. On the flip side, if he or she isn’t representing the seller, and finds out that the seller would be willing to sell the property for $150,000.00, he has that loyalty and responsibility to tell you “Let’s offer $150,000.00 because they’ll take it.” If you sign an Exclusive Buyer’s Agency Agreement, it’s similar to ‘doctor-­‐patient privilege’. You can confide in your agent about any aspect of the property or sales process and he or she would not and could not speak a word of that. It protects you throughout the process.

No. As the buyer, you do not pay for the services that you are getting from our company; the confidentiality, the honesty, the loyalty, etc. All of those services that your agent is going to provide for you is actually paid for by the listing broker by splitting his commission. Effectively, every one of our agents that is a member of the MLS (Multiple Listing Services) have agreed to split and share our commissions. Normally, this commission is somewhere between 5-­‐7%. Georgia law says that the listing agent (the person who has exclusive rights to sell on a property) is the person who will actually collects the commission, and in the case where there is another agent involved, the listing agent splits that commission with the other agent, so it costs you no more to have us represent you exclusively as a buyer. Since it’s a free service for you, why wouldn’t you step to the highest level of that service? Especially knowing that it doesn’t cost you anything out of pocket.

Experience: You’ll receive the full benefits of our 20 years of experience in vetting all of the peripheral professionals that you are going to need to complete the process. Not only will we hold your hand through the process, but we’ll share exclusive insight like:

  • Which attorney you do/don’t want to use
  • Which mortgage broker’s fees are too high
  • Which mortgage company has the fastest processor
  • Which mortgage companies consistently extend closings because they can’t get people qualified in time
  • The best way to deal with underwriters
  • Who has the cheapest closing costs
  • Which contractors can complete punch list items on time
  • Which home warranty programs are best

Knowledge: We’ll explain the entire process and handle your expectations from search to closing. We’ll cover the details of your HUD statement and what those exact costs are to you. We’ll go through your Truth in Lending statement with you when you talk with your mortgage broker.

Assistance: Effectively, anything that you aren’t able to do or that you don’t want to do, your agent would handle that for you under the Exclusive Buyer’s Agency Agreement. Some examples include meeting with movers, home inspectors and contractors to ensure that your closing is completed on time.

One of the biggest myths of not signing an exclusive Buyer’s Agency Agreement is that it saves you money. Let’s consider a typical scenario. You’re out on a Saturday afternoon and you decide that you want to take a look at some homes. You pass by a house and believe you’ve found the house of your dreams, but you don’t have your agent with you, so you call the phone number on the listing agent’s real estate sign. You’ve just contacted the person who has the seller’s best interest in mind, not yours. It’s a common misunderstanding that if you don’t bring another agent in, then you can save money on the contract, but it doesn’t happen that way. The commission you pay will stay the same whether you have an agent representing you or not. The question is really whether all that commission will be paid to the listing agent or split with another agent (one who represents you and has your best interest at heart). You don’t pay more regardless, but not having clear and confidential representation could end up costing you a lot.

There are actually two types of Buyer’s Agency Agreement that you can sign, and they both are exclusive to Michael Carr & Associates, Inc.

One Property: The first one is specific to one property. With this option, you do the searches on your own and you’re effectively saying that you don’t want to be assigned to an agent. You simply want to look at one particular piece of property, and you sign an Exclusive Buyer’s Agency Agreement specifically for that piece of property. If you end up buying that piece of property, then we would represent your best interest in dealing with that listing agent.

Specified Time Frame: The other option is to sign an Exclusive Buyer’s Agency Agreement for a specific amount of time. This option is far more common, and six months is the average amount of time, but it could be shorter or longer depending upon your needs. In this particular case, it doesn’t matter which properties (or how many) you wish to view. There are no restrictions. We’re going to be your Exclusive Buyer’s Agent and represent you on any property you wish. From that moment on, it’s as simple as telling every agent you encounter that you are dealing with an agent from Michael Carr & Associates, Inc. You’ll be protected and guided through the process properly.

Client success stories

Find out why our clients love to work with us.

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"Nichole exceeded our expectations by far! She was there when we needed her, no matter time or day! I would absolutely refer her to anyone. If you’re lRead MoreRead Less
"Well I can not say enough great things about Mrs. Jennifer Fast, very hands on, she made sure I got everything I asked for and more. Taking time to exRead MoreRead Less
"We would recommend Michael Carr & Associates to everyone who is buying/selling a house. Jennifer Fast was very easy to work with, answered our questiRead MoreRead Less
"Nichole was amazing. Start to finish. She listened to what we wanted and helped with everything we needed along the way. If I EVER need a realtor agaiRead MoreRead Less
"My husband and I worked with realtor Nichole Pankevich and had a wonderful experience! She made the entire process from selling our current home to fiRead MoreRead Less
"Nichole was absolutely amazing!!! We had a signed contract within 9 days of listing. After living in our old home for 25 years, we knew very little abRead MoreRead Less
"Nicole was simply amazing. After having a bad experience with another realtor she was a breath of fresh air. After living in our home for 25 years sRead MoreRead Less
"Working with Nichole was one of the best decisions my wife and I have ever made. The entire process from beginning to end was smooth, seamless, and plRead MoreRead Less
"I count myself lucky to have been able to work with Nichole Pankevich. I have worked with a large amount of realtors before and no one is even a closeRead MoreRead Less
"Emily McGarr sold our home in January 2023, during an extremely unstable housing market. She worked diligently to get us a fair price for our home, evRead MoreRead Less
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