Dealing With Dual Real Estate Agents

Historically, real estate agents have represented the seller of a property. The seller, after all, is usually the one who pays their commission, and agents therefore have a fiduciary relationship with the seller. This in no way means that agents may operate outside the bounds of the law and ethical conduct of course. It just means that the real estate agent is just that, an authorized agent of the seller for a particular transaction.

More recent trends have introduced buyer's agents, who usually work on a fee basis exclusively for the buyer, and dual agents. Dual agents represent both seller and buyer, particularly in cases where the agent's company is the listing company. Dual agency is legal in most U.S. states; however, most consumer advocacy organizations recommend against using a dual agent.

This is because there is an inherit conflict of interest for the agent - they receive a commission based on the selling price of the property. The higher the price, the higher their commission, so their reasoning is that dual agents never really have the buyer's best interests at heart.

If you've decided to work with a dual agent, this will need to be disclosed to both the buyer and seller, and they both have to agree, in writing. Dual agents are bound by law and ethics to treat both buyers and sellers honestly, equally, and fairly. Dual agents can be prevented from divulging confidential information about each party to the other. This could severely harm negotiating positions.

The bottom line in dealing with a dual agent is to remember that the buyer and seller have conflicting interests in the price and other terms of the sale. It's very difficult for an agent to truly and equally represent both parties, since the conflicting interests make that inherently impossible.

If you do choose to use a dual agent, be sure the exact nature of your relationship with the dual agent is clear, know what services the agent will be performing for you during the transaction, how the agent will be paid, and how any conflicts that arise will be handled.

About The Author

Jakob Jelling is the founder of http://www.cashbazar.com. Visit his website for the latest on personal finance, debt elimination, budgeting, credit cards and real estate.

MORE RESOURCES:

Realtors Say Foreigners Hold Key to Real Estate Revival - FOXNews

Investment Regimes for Indian Real Estate Sector Explored - MarketWatch

Real Estate Market Slumps, Showhomes Soars - MarketWatch

Moody#39;s: Commercial real estate prices rise - CNNMoney.com

Architects see drop in real estate design contracts - Los Angeles Times

Target shareholder revises real estate proposal - The Associated Press

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E-House Reports Third Quarter 2008 Results - MarketWatch

UPDATE 1-Dubai real estate suffers as distressed sales rise - Reuters

Artis Real Estate Investment Trust announces monthly cash distribution - FOXBusiness

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Commercial Real Estate Debt Index Plummets - Wall Street Journal

table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/9-0fd=Rurl=http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122703851606838297.html%3Fmod%3Dgooglenews_wsjcid=1271977795ei=lHMlScm8MJjI9ATu4NC6AQusg=AFQjCNFLCi5gznxe4xFC8zeA_6xR-FjLuQCommercial bReal Estate/b Debt Index Plummets/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fWall Street Journalnbsp;-/font nobrNov 18, 2008/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1By PRABHA NATARAJAN WASHINGTON -- A commercial breal estate/b debt index plummeted Tuesday after a Credit Suisse research report warned that two loans included b.../b/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/9-1fd=Rurl=http://www.reuters.com/article/bondsNews/idUSN1933428520081119cid=1271977795ei=lHMlScm8MJjI9ATu4NC6AQusg=AFQjCNFnyANLKAIq5Fk8NrnAtZ3y7qlifwUPDATE 1-Economy, TARP conspire against commercial mortgages/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrReuters/nobr/font/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/9-2fd=Rurl=http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news%3Fpid%3D20601087%26sid%3Da7v3wNC8x9WA%26refer%3Dhomecid=1271977795ei=lHMlScm8MJjI9ATu4NC6AQusg=AFQjCNF52DgJhHN4BM_2cygkgTIyKRoWugWestin, Promenade Commercial Mortgages Near Default (Update2)/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrBloomberg/nobr/font/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/9-3fd=Rurl=http://www.reuters.com/article/marketsNews/idUSN1826572220081118cid=1271977795ei=lHMlScm8MJjI9ATu4NC6AQusg=AFQjCNFOZ6a_LEOfJGYX2jv57PPDGDpqUAUPDATE 1-Big CMBS loans seen near default, index yields soar/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrReuters/nobr/font/fontbrfont size=-1 class=pa href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/9-4fd=Rurl=http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122703851606838297.html%3Fmod%3Dspecial_page_campaign2008_mostpopcid=1271977795ei=lHMlScm8MJjI9ATu4NC6AQusg=AFQjCNH0yy0At487NXAjL4y1urQo2_Kg2AnobrWall Street Journal/nobr/anbsp;- a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/9-5fd=Rurl=http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news%3Fpid%3D20601087%26sid%3Da0GR3cE_UyEE%26refer%3Dhomecid=1271977795ei=lHMlScm8MJjI9ATu4NC6AQusg=AFQjCNE6FAEcAuo4S6iaLxsz-qW3jbuM_QnobrBloomberg/nobr/a/fontbr/font class=p size=-1a class=p href=http://news.google.com/news?sourceid=navclientie=ISO-8859-1rls=GGLG,GGLG:2005-22,GGLG:enncl=1271977795hl=ennobrall 31 news articles/nobr/a/font/div/font/td/tr/table

Real-Estate - Google News

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