Who out there has not had an experience finding out that a Builder has told buyers they will get a better price without an agent? Why isn't this illegal?
It should be, but they get away with it. If the salesperson in the the builder's model does this, they are setting that buyer up to ensure no representation. That would never work in the legal world. You have Miranda Rights when it comes to the law.
The "Miranda Rights" in the real estate world (at least in Texas) is in the form of requiring AGENTS to provide at the first substantive dialog, a copy of the Information on Brokerage Services. This outlines all of the rules of representation and explains when you are or are not represented.
However, builders salespeople (IF NOT LICENSED AGENTS)... have no obligation to provide that information. What's troubling to me is that I can see that when sales are reported in MLS, buyers that didn't have agents often pay too much for the homes. Not always, but sometimes they do.
Caveat Emptor - Let the buyer beware... Any buyer who buys a home without an agent probably has a fool for a client! Does anyone else agree with that statement? The buyer doesn't have to pay a Realtor commissions when buying a home. So why wouldn't they want a good agent to represent their best interests and make sure they are making smart choices?
Aren't the builders setting themselves up for lawsuits when they do this? And keep in mind... many builders do not do this. There are many great builders out there. But people are people, and a few builders out there have people working for them that operate under the moral status quo without the builder know it in some instances.
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