Dual agent or dueling agents? Will your agent duel for the deal?

Paul, you make a valid point. It is difficult to keep an "arms length" distance when representing both sides of the transaction. In Virginia Dual Agency is legal, if it is fully disclosed to all parties. Should a conflict of interest arise, the Agent is required to inform their Broker who in turn will assign the Buyer to another Agent. This is called called Designated Representation. At that point the Broker becomes the Dual Agent.

Good Post!

I've done a lot of dual agency transactions and the key is to have all parties sit down together at a table and hammer out the details right then and there. If all parties are present, you won't have any problems with he said / she said situations!

With what I do, finding someone who knows what they are doing is very difficult as only .0025 percent of agents in my market do owner financing and lease options.

Paul,

I too have struggled with this for many years.....I have done only 3 times in 8 years....and I am about to do another.  In each case both sides agreed.....both sides give me their best offer and I presented to the other....to my knowledge none of those deals have stated they were not represented appropriately....in fact I have done other deals for two of the three.

As an Agent for any side I present all the available information to my Client ( like any other deal) and they decide their course of action, I never tell and Client what to do.....any decision is their's.  Therefore, I am presenting their offer as they want it......as for an advocate, if I am presenting the Client's offer and I have no opinion (as it should be, in my opinion) then my voice, facial expression or demeanor should have no effect. 

Also, as a Buyer's Agent who is not at the table when the Listing Agent presents the offer, how can I be sure that Agent's bad day dosen't unduly effect the Seller's answer?  How many time as a Buyer's Agent have your felt your offer was good enough only to be countered or worse, rejected and lost the home?  When does being an advocate help when I am not part of the Seller's meeting?  Don't get me wrong, I too believe in one side....yet when both side agree to use you then they must believe in you. 

What do you do with procuring cause?  A couple comes to an open house, I explain to them the Consumer Notice...they say they understand.....they have NO Agent representation......and now what to buy the home.....Do I arrange an Agent form my office to handle?  Do I tell them to find their own Agent and have to break it to them that they have already seen the homewith me?  What is fair compensation to those Agents?  Is this the argument that, well now I need to do what is best for the Seller and just pay the Agent come lately?  Then am I not compromising for the sale because I had the Buyer first or working unduly harder to make the Buyer pay more since I lost 1/2 the deal where I worked and did my job to get the Buyer interested and wanting to make an offer?

There certainly is an advantage for dealing with the Listing Agent in the mind of the Buyer.....especially in the past 4-5 banner years when the negotiation at times exceeded the list price.....they didn't what to lose a certain home.   Even today I hear from Buyer's that they think the best deal is with the Listing Agent since they have an inside track.  After 8+ years of Buyer's Agency the perception of the Buyer's right to representation is not even at 30%.  If it was, then the Builder's would payout more (in normal times) in co-op fees....most Buyer's never think of representation in this instance.

Where allowed by law, you have to be sure that your conversations with the party in front of you is kept to that side and worked for their intrest's only. Again, 99.9% of the time the Buyer's Agent is not at the Seller's table when it is negotiated.

The bottom line is that when the Realtor follow's the ethical guidelines, the result should be best for all concerned.....again, just my humble opinion.