License to sell since 1992. NWMLS & CBA (Commercial Brokers Assoc.) member. Seattle & Queen Anne Hill Native & Resident. Selling Residential, Commercial, Business Opportunities & Leasing.
As a "real estate agent" (Not a Realtor) the problem I see is that few agents (mostly residential) understand agency, let alone "dual agency." In Washington State (Seattle), you can only be a "dual agent" if you had a prior "buyer agency" with the would-be buyer on your listing. What does that mean? It means you were showing homes/real estate to the buyer prior to showing your listing and acting as a "buyer's agent." Dual agency is improperly chosen by the agent if an unknown buyer (to the listing agent) calls via the sign or internet directly to the listing agent and then agrees to allow the listing agent to write the offer up on said listing as a dual agent. Most agents cannot explain agency nor understand dual agency since they want to double-end the commission (both listing/selling commissions) they go with "dual agency," which is WRONG! As a listing agent you have a contract with the seller (listing agent). If you don't have a buyer's agency agreement signed with the buyer nor did you know the buyer prior to taking the listing, where's your written contract with the buyer? Dual Agency is watered-down agency and the only one represented is the real estate agent. I've sold many listings as the seller's agent receiving both commissions explaining to them that "The best agent to sell a listing is THE LISTING AGENT. By law I owe honesty and fairness to you the buyer but my fiduciary is to the Seller. Tell me what you'd like to offer and I'll put it in writing today.!"
Fortunately in Seattle, where Redfin is from, NWMLS is not a REALTOR-owned MLS where NAR membership is mandatory and the brokers made it optional to feed listings for FREE to realtor.com that is operated by a 3rd-party for-profit entity. Other parts of Washington state have Realtor-owned MLS'es. "If everyone is thinking alike, then no one is thinking." -Benjamin Franklin
Regarding the playground fixtures, just because the school allowed their children to play there after school doesn't mean the new owners will nor the insurance company of the landlord or new tenant?
