Disclosure, consent key in dual agency
Letter to the Editor
By Inman News, Friday, July 24, 2009.Re: 'Dual agents can balance interests' (July 22)
Dear Editor:
Bravo to the agent who had the courage to speak in favor of dual agency! I'm sick of people referring to this practice as "dangerous dual agency." In my opinion, the only dual agency that's dangerous and wrong is undisclosed dual agency.
As long as the dual agency is disclosed to consenting adults, agents in a free-market system should not be forbidden from selling their own listings and representing all parties to the transaction.
A successful real estate transaction requires mutual agreement. No matter who an agent represents, the job involves bringing people together for a single purpose.
Teresa Lazazzera Strohmeyer
ERA OakCrest Realty Inc.
Winchester, Va.
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Submitted by Jay Thompson on July 24, 2009 - 12:35pm.
I'm still waiting to hear how dual agency benefits the CLIENTS. Anyone with a compelling case is welcome to comment on the blog post I just published at http://bit.ly/t7sB4
Jay Thompson
Broker / Owner
Thompson's Realty
Blog: www.PhoenixRealEstateGuy.com
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Submitted by Paul Howard on July 24, 2009 - 2:14pm.
Wonderful. All it takes for dual agency to work is disclosure by the company the agent hires.
Teresa's statement: "As long as the dual agency is disclosed to consenting adults, agents in a free-market system should not be forbidden from selling their own listings and representing all parties to the transaction." would seem to make a lot of sense.
So, after the disclosure the agent shows the buyer 10 or 15 homes. The buyer is very "comfortable" working with the agent. Then, the buyer sees 'the one' which was listed by the company that is representing them.
The company's agent that the buyer is very comfortable with suddenly becomes a dual agent.
The disclosure was already made and the buyer consented so no problem - right? Is the buyer going to bail and have a different company's agent show them the home? Probably not - they might feel disloyal even if they no longer feel 'comfortable'.
What if they didn't bail right away and saw the house with the dual agent? Suppose THEN they are no longer comfortable because the agent is unable to give them the advice regarding offers or other information that they feel they need.
Can they STILL bail? Is the dual agent going to claim procuring cause if the buyer goes forward with an agent from a different company?
So --- you are in a 'designated agency' state and think that makes it ok. suppose the agent the buyer was working with was also the listing agent. The broker assigns another agent to be the 'buyer's agent'. What if there is no other agent in the firm that the buyer would trust? Or, suppose issues come up during a negotiation and either the "buyer's agent" or the "seller's agent"
have to go to the broker for help. The 'broker' is a dual agent.
What a tangled web dual agency weaves - even without noting the fact that NAR studies show that very often disclosure is not properly made and often it is not made at all.
Paul Howard, Broker
NJHomeBuyer.com Realty
Cherry Hill NJ 08002
Submitted by Jon Astaris on July 26, 2009 - 8:47am.
The tangled web is woven only in heads confused by the legal mumbo jumbo generated by lawyers for lawyers. In the real world, none of the "what ifs" matter. Honest dealing, fairness, put all information out there and you'll do fine. Doual agency is a false issue fabricated from whole cloth by folks with chips on their shoulders and little to do.
Submitted by Danny C. Flucke Jr. on July 27, 2009 - 2:59pm.
Most listing agreements deal with dual agency as follows:
3% to listing agent / 2.5% to outside buyers agent. 4% total commission if buyer is represented by listing or another company agent.
This benefits the clients by lower commission rates - And there are two other reasons dual-agency is perfectly acceptable in most cases.
I posted a more detailed reponse on your blog - Including why I think your business beliefs are quite possibly the ramblings of the insane. :)
Danny C. Flucke Jr.
Senior Partner
Nationwide Mortgage Experts, LLC
Direct: (714)624-9479
DCFJ@NationwideMortgageExperts.com
www.NationwideMortgageExperts.com / www.NaMoEx.com
Submitted by Harrison K. Long on July 28, 2009 - 12:11pm.
Teresa,
Thanks for your post here, and I agree with you that as long as the dual agency relationship is carefully discussed and disclosed to between consenting adults, Realtor and client, that should be OK in our free-market system.
Mutual assent is required for any contractual relationship, including real estate listing agreement. The purchase and sale situation involves another contract and requirement for mutual assent.
Harrison K. Long
Realtor & broker, Explore Properties Group
Coldwell Banker Previews
Irvine, CA
949-854-7747
949-701-2515 cell
www.ExploreOCHomes.com
http://twitter.com/hklong
http://activerain.com/blogs/hklong
CA DRE no. 01410855
CA State Bar no. 69137