Priscilla Senecal

Dual, designated, intermediary, transactional, etc. - whatever you call it, the whole point is so the brokerage can get the money from both sides when both sides want representation. Too bad the buyers and sellers don't understand that their agreement to "dual" just got their agent neutered and lost them the agent's advice and counsel.

We spend so much time fighting the rules rather than figuring out how to comply with them. I bet these associations have spent days worth of meetings trying to get around the Dual agency commission disclosure part of the rule. Here's a solution for them. For a number of years now, NC licensees have had to indicate to their fellow in-house associates working with buyer clients whether the seller has authorized dual agency and/or designated. These big companies have accomplished this by putting something like "Dual & Designated" or "Designated only" in the Company remarks on the MLS where every one of their agents in that MLS can see it. Why not also put "Total commission from seller to ABC Company is ____%." Communication to the buyer's agent has been achieved and can be seen when the agent first looks up the listing. I would guess that these big companies also have an Intranet - most small companies do too. Perhaps they could put the listing commission on that for their agents to see also. And, if worse comes to worse, send a list out by e-mail every week, updated with new listings and the commission amount every day. It can be done if you WANT to do it.

I've been catching up with my reading today and have seen where you have mentioned in a few of your articles that you always ask whether there are other offers on the table. If there aren't, you lower your offer. My question is, why would I, the seller's agent tell you that information? In NC the existence of multiple offers is not a material fact, and telling you could hurt my seller. First, as you said, you would bring in a lower offer, and second, some buyers might choose not to participate in a multiple bid situation and would withdraw their offer. I think an agent should explain the pluses and minuses of multiple bid situations to their seller and let them decide what they want the agent to do when another agent asks "Do you have any other offers?" My answer might just be "My seller has not given me permission to discuss that." I'm curious as to what you would advise your buyer to do then.