Background of John Herman Exclusive Buyer's Agent
Connecticut Real Estate - Buyer's Representative Buyer's Brokers
Background of John Herman
Exclusive Buyer's Agent
With Commentary on Company Mission
John was first licensed in Connecticut at age 17, working initially in his family's real estate company in Farmington and subsequently another local firm in West Hartford. He is currently a licensed real estate broker in Connecticut, New York, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts. The real estate business was an early friend to John, a fact punctuated when the sale of an apartment building over the summer of his junior year paid for his senior year at Richmond College in London. After college, John worked for Sopher & Company Real Estate in New York City.
In the mid 1980's, John became a real estate appraiser establishing the Greenwich CT office of Harrington Appraisal Associates. The firm serviced lending clients throughout Greenwich and Fairfield County. John was the primary appraiser for residential loans made by the Putnam Trust Company, the prominent Greenwich lender, which afforded him extensive experience with luxury homes. He later became a commercial property appraiser joining the commercial appraisal firm of Heberger Associates. There he became a senior appraiser, specializing in cash flow modeling, tax appeal, litigated matters and properties of theoretical difficulty.
Recognized projects during this period included Hartford's blue-domed Colt Firearms complex, United Nuclear in Montville (the building now redesigned as Mohegan Sun Casino), and the Hallmark Facility in Enfield.
John's theoretical appraisal argument for the latter set the legal precedent by which special purpose properties are now valued for property tax assessment purposes throughout the 169 Connecticut towns.
John opened THE BUYER'S REPRESENTATIVE LLC in 1995, determined to offer the public a superior way to buy real estate. Despite having enjoyed early success with real estate, John was not comfortable in the role of "salesperson." John started the firm because he was attracted to the new concept of Exclusive Buyer Agency, and the extreme ethics of service it comprises. John was not satisfied with the limited commitment to client loyalty that the traditional real estate business model represented. It would have been personally impossible for John to return to the real estate industry if this concept had not emerged, which allowed him to eliminate the salesman's role of incessantly focusing on overcoming the buyer's objections to "close the sale." From the first, the goal has been to change the profit-guided business model traditional in this industry to a client-centered model designed to maximize the purchasing power and opportunity of the buyer. He believed that by freeing the agents in the firm from the conflicts of interests that are typical in our industry, they would be free to do the best job that could be done. The profit plan then becomes...do the better job and they will come.
"We are not salespeople in our firm. We are counselors assisting buyers in solving their problems. Salespeople are pressured to sell the first thing they can to a buyer whether or not it fits the buyer. We never sell the buyer on anything. We have removed the pressure agents in this industry have sometimes felt to get the buyer to buy any home just to sell one. Our job is to help the buyer sift through all their opportunities and buy what suits them best, at a price that makes sense to them after learning market values well. It is a system that works well for our clients, and let's us sleep very soundly at night. "
"Our business plan is simple. If our buyers are very happy with our work, they will be willing and proud to send their friends to us. Our existence depends upon this. We don't have listings to attract buyers like listing firms do. Our willingness to give up listings fees so that we can do the best possible job for our buyers is the acid test of our commitment. Our flow of business comes from new buyers who recognize something different being offered them or as the result of a referral from our former clients. That is not an easy business plan for anyone to live up to. We are very proud to be doing it. "
- John HermanPersonal recommendations for John's services are available from past clients, among them relocation clients of corporations such as IBM, CBS - Westinghouse Stamford, The Phoenix, The Hartford, Pratt & Whitney, Northrop, RC Knox, GE Capitol, Yale, U-Conn Medical Center, and others (Please view client commentary ).
"Any real estate firm can promise to do their best for a buyer. Can you find one that does not? What we have done however, is back up that promise with a commitment that only 1 in 1000 firms (and only about 10 firms in the state of Connecticut) have been willing to make. As an Exclusive Buyer's Agency Firm, we have structured the methodology of our entire business and our careers to stand behind the needs of our clients. This is a concrete test-by-behavior that our clients recognize. It is not merely words or an expertly crafted marketing perception. It is real and they know it. It is what they wanted from an agent before they knew where to find it, or even that it existed."
"In making this unusual commitment, our actions have defined us better than the best marketing slogans ever could. We have backed up our promise to our clients in an absolute way. Because of this, our clients know they can count on us. They know they will buy the best house the market can offer them. That matters." - John Herman
History of Commitment
John is proud member of the National Association of Exclusive Buyer Agents (NAEBA). John has taught agency law for the University of Connecticut continuing education program. He was a 2006 Standards and Practices Committee Chair, and continues to participate as a chairman for Realtor Ethics and Arbitration hearings.
In 1999, John initiated the political struggle to defeat designated agency in CT, a new law which allows a single real estate office to promise both buyer and seller full advocacy of their opposing positions at the same time. Previously a real estate firm attempting to represent both sides was defined as a Dual agent, and thereby required to assume a neutral position and disclose this to both parties. Under the newly invented "Designated Agency", one real estate office can promise to negotiate the highest price and terms for the seller while simultaneously promising to negotiate the lowest price and terms for the buyer. There were other words used for this: "Impossible" & "Illegal".
While the CT effort to defeat this "remarkable logic" started within our firm, we requested assistance of others, and a substantial cooperative effort resulted. We contacted consumer advocates from around the country and contacted the Ralph Nader group, which responded immediately by offering coordinating assistance and by directly contacting the CT senators. Several senators ultimately expressed distress when they came to recognize that the proposed law offered nothing of value to the public. As Nader put it, "No amount of amending of this entirely anti-consumer bill, which legalizes an inherent conflict of interest, can produce any benefit to consumers." The bill was sent back to committee to die....or so it seemed. It appeared we had won.
Unfortunately, in one of the less appealing acts of political maneuvering to occur in our state recently, the buried bill re-emerged under a different bill number in the last three hours before the close of the legislative year and was voice-voted through to the "consent calendar" (a list of bills pre-slated to be accepted as a group).
That is how designated agency became law in CT. This legislative action in the late hours overcame 300 years of legal precedent in law which had consistently defined this kind of conflict of interest as illegal.
Our thinking is that it is critical to guard against any erosion of public protection under agency law. The benefits of sound agency law are many, and are felt by all agents from all companies, and by the public. They protect the public and thus promote the perception (and the reality) of integrity within our industry.
Unfortunately, the "logic" of this legislative event is understandable only when studied in conjunction with related campaign contributions.
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Ironically, the law has been a positive influence on our own business. Our pledge to refrain from dual agency or designated agency has assisted us in highlighting the commitment we make to our clients. We had anticipated this possibility, but we welcome no gain to ourselves that comes at the cost of undermining the better principles of our industry.
BUYER'S REPRESENTATIVE LLC
Exclusive Buyer's Agents (EBA)
www.BuyCT.comAfter-hours calls welcome:
Greenwich: 203-637-3200 Farmington: 860-674-0345
Litchfield County: 860-379-2664 Statewide: 203-REALTORThe Buyer Broker with Success in 80 CT Towns