What You MUST Know About Dual Agency if You Are Selling a New York Home

Phil, it sounds like you really clarified how that works in your state. Now, if others would do the same for their respective states across the board, instead of making blanket general statements for/against the practice, we could get somewhere...

Loved this post Phil! I explain Dual Agency to my sellers and most times they want continued representation. I had one seller that didn't care because he felt I would be controlling the deal better. Glad that never came to pass. A lot of agents do not explain dual agency like I do because they want to be able to double-end the deal. Let's face it, double ending is not often. Not worth throwing the seller under the bus for that.

Phil, I wish I could quote this to potential buyers so that they would better understand their need for their own agent

Wow, Meester Jose, you sure are into stalking cars with interesting license plates lately.  Do you have any photos of a plate that says "Jay" or "Inspctr" ???

I try to avoid dual agency although sometimes it's "technically" not possible if my buyer wants representation.  And if it's MY listing or MY buyer it's dual by my actual representation of that one party if the other side is within my office because I am the broker.  But if agent A/ in my office sells listing of agent B in my office it's "designated" agency. But the broker cannot be a participant in "designated" agency.

I'm sure it's clear as mud huh?  I'll say this... a buyer moving across state lines needs to find an agent who will explain it well because the laws do vary.

I iknow NY has lawyers do the contract... does each party hae an attorney?

I sold one like this in June.  Seller was my client and the Buyer was a CUSTOMER.  Worked out great. 

Very rare, but if I have both sides somehow, everything gets laid out on the table. Transparency of what my obligations are must be known.

Phil...there is so much good information in here, not just about dual agency, but duty owed to a client and also why a buyer should have his or her own representation.  

So many people don't understand agency at all, and especially don't understand the pitfalls of dual agency. Excellent post, and hopefully many who use dual agency without a second thought will think again.

Hi Phil...

nice synopsis...

in our office we are required to approach it the same way... and we also do not even allow dual agency in our office for the reasons you mentioned in your article... and in the rare case where we would end up in dual agency we always assign a buyer's agent to ensure that the buyer has independent representation...

I am closing one like this this week.   Seller is my client and I am the selling agent too, but buyer is unrepresented.  It's a tear down so, pretty straightforward.   But it can work if the buyer is savvy and doesn't need representation.

We have completed many deals being the only agent. Many sellers and buyers actually preferred direct communication instead of having more parties in the middle and sometimes, buyers prefer to talk to us direct instead of buyer's agents.

Philip,

Not sure I'm with you on this one.  I am licensed in three jurisdictions with more lawyers than New York has shrinks.  And as long as everything goes smoothly, you might be able to get by with the buyer being unrepresented. 

But when there are inspection issues, appraisal problems or non-disclosed material facts, it can get unbelievably ugly.  And in my experience, it's  been easier to work out solutions with a colleague than with a customer who at some point is going to wish he or she was represented - and is likely to come back with an attorney ready to sue everyone.

I've been around long enough that I learned how to sell my own listings back when we all represented the sellers.  But I'm not sure we are working for the sellers when buyers, often uninformed about the real estate market, are on their own. 

The #1 claim/complaint filed with E & O carriers is . . . dual agency.  And since that's the case, I think that E & O carriers should charge MORE to agents/brokerages who are practicing dual agency.  HA HA HA  That'll learn 'em.

JP - Great post on why buyers truly need to get their own Realtors.  As was mentioned above, CA is a dual agency state but I would love nothing more than to see dual agency outlawed here.  It's an atorocious practice and is not in the buyers/concumers best interest because so many buyers/consumers literally get screwed by listing agents engaging in unethical dual agency.  Yes, they're supposed to represent the buyer but so many simply don't.

Don't even get me started on those CA agents who claim that they can perform dual agency just fine with both parties.  Chances are they are not telling the whole story and if those buyers in those transactions were asked if they were happy with their representation, I would bet money that almost all of them would say NO - they were very unhappy with the lack of representation they got.

I have worked with borrowers who made the mistake of using listing agents to purchase a property and they all got little to no representation throughout the entire transaction.  When I asked if it was worth it, almost all of them said no and that they wished they had listened to me when I begged them to get their own Realtor from the get-go.  This one that I am going to reblog to the buyers/consumers in my market.  They really need to read stuff like this as much as possible.

Good morning Phil,

Dual Agency seems to be confusing for so many, agents and clients alike.  Great post.

Merry Christmas!

Clear communication and really understanding how these agency rules come into play is something that is very important as a busy listing agent when buyers are coming direct or you are showing buyer's your own listings.