Are you a Buyer looking to purchase a home that is listed with a Realtor? Do you feel that you will get a better price if you work with the Agent who has the home listed? Think again.
If I am a representative of the Seller, my fiduciary responsibility is to the Seller. In a nutshell, that means that as the Listing Agent, I work solely on behalf of the Seller to promote the interests of the Seller with the utmost (greatest, highest degree, quality) good faith, loyalty, and fidelity. I will negotiate on behalf of and act as an advocate (someone who speaks or writes in support or defense of a person) for the Seller.
As the Seller’s Agent, I must disclose to potential Buyers all adverse material facts actually known by me about the property. However, when I entered into a legally binding agreement with the Seller, my commission was laid out in that agreement. The Buyer has no determination of what my commission will be. What I am to be paid in a transaction is decided long before you come on the scene.
In most real estate transactions, the Buyer does not pay for the PROFESSIONAL services of a Realtor that represents them. Stated a little differently, if you have your own Agent, you get a professional working for you as YOUR advocate for FREE. If I, as the Seller’s Agent, negotiate a deal with no other Agent involved, most of the time the Buyer will NOT be my client. (Unless I have a pre-existing relationship, but that is a totally different scenario.) I have a responsibility to be honest and handle the deal with integrity, but I work for the Seller. Period.
Representing both sides in a transaction is twice as much work. In this increasingly difficult market, I don’t know many Agents who will give up their commission to work twice as hard so that a Buyer can have a slight break on the purchase price when it often clouds a transaction to be in that position. And since an unrepresented Buyer has no agency relationship with the Realtor, you do not have your own advocate for your negotiations.
While there are exceptions, it is definitely not in YOUR best interests to try to negotiate without your own legal representation. So broaden your horizons and get your own FREE representative. You’ll be so much better off.
