DUAL AGENCY - When a real estate agent becomes a dual agent, they technically represent both parties in the transaction.
When a consumer hires a real estate agent, they expect that person to be in their corner. They are hiring a professional they can count on to give them sound advice. They may be even looking for their agent to guide them through the process if they are a first-time home buyer.
The advice an agent normally gives can start before, during or even after a sale has taken place. With dual agency, a real estate agent is not able to give proper guidance to either a buyer or a seller.
For example, if a buyer finds a home they would like to purchase and asks the agent what they should offer the agent is not allowed to give them advice.
On the other side of the coin, if the sellers asks what they should counter offer at, the agent is not allowed to help them either. Both the buyer and the seller are in an awful position because neither of them has any true representation!
So who benefits from dual agency? There is only one party that benefits from dual agency and that is the real estate agent. With dual agency, an agent has the opportunity to what's known as "double side" the deal or make double the commission.
There are lots of real estate agents that will tell you that dual agency can be done. No problem they will insist. Of course, they will tell you that because they want the opportunity to make more money.
Human nature often gets in the way of ethics, and that's exactly what happens with this arrangement. If you are selling your home, you want/need a Seller Agent and if you are buying/hope to purchase a home, you want/need a Buyer Agent. Don't call the name on the sign, they are representing the Seller. This is not a gray area! All Buyers and Sellers need their own representation.
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