Pulling the right strings. (what property buyers need to know about their real estate agents)(Special Report: Commercial Real Estate)

Property buyers need to know who's paying their agent to know whose best interest he's got in mind.

Long-time local real estate brokers William McKelvey and Frank Ruffo launched the Buyer's Agent -- one of the first local brokerages devoted exclusively to buyer representation -- a couple of months ago. But whether the company's concept will take off in San Antonio remains to be seen.

"Most brokers try to sell their own listings, which means they get a bigger fee because they get both the listing and selling fees," says McKelvey, who has been on the local real estate scene since 1974. "We have eliminated that because we don't take listings. We're not selling anymore; we're advising and negotiating."

Indeed, buyer's agents, who emerged as significant players in the real estate game here in the mid-1980s, evolved partly because of the confusion over who represents whom in a real estate transaction. One of the primary problems in real …