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Who Dual Agents Really Represent!
When you consider who a REALTOR truly represents, the term's true colors become very clear;
A DUAL AGENT'S PRIMARY FIDUCIARY RESPONSIBLITY IS TO THE SELLER!
To see how real estate representation really affects you, take a look at the three types of agencies. (Texas Association of REALTORS explains there are five options for relationship between agent and home buyer.) But, from your perspective as a home buyer, it boils down to the following three:
SELLER AGENCY:
These agents represent sellers, it’s that simple, and they make no secret of it. It’s hard to imagine home buyers winding up with a seller agent by accident. If you were seeking representation when buying a home and saw “seller agency” on a firm’s door, you’d be aware then keep looking.
But it gets trickier, since most real estate agencies fall into the next category.
DUAL AGENCY:
If you wanted, you could break this type of real estate representation into three separate subcategories. (See Texas Agency Law Governmental Regulations). Dual agency. That’s where either a single agent—or two agents from the same office—try to represent the interests of both buyer and seller. And “try” is the operative word, since even the best-intentioned dual agent would have to violate the law and ethics codes to give you the representation you deserved. So what you get is a less than perfect transaction for one side over the other. There is rarely a happy medium.
Subagent or co-agent: These agents will work with buyers while openly representing sellers. RED FLAG-You should run the other way- do not proceed.
Intermediary or facilitator represents both buyer and seller, but refrains from representing either in a “fiduciary capacity.” This subtype of dual agency may reduce some the risks to the homebuyer, but it also eliminates the benefits of rigorous fiduciary representation.
BUYER AGENCY As the Texas Agency Law puts it succinctly; a buyer’s agent is “acting for the buyer only.” The clarity of that clause makes it clear to home buyers that an exclusive buyer agent’s loyalties lay only the BUYER. And, it tells you everything you need to know about what kind of representation to seek. Home buyers would be well served if Texas state law included “Exclusive Buyer’s Agent” as one of the legally defined options for relationships between buyers and agents. Such a category would clear up all ambiguity and make it easy for home buyers to get the benefits of working with an EBA. Until then, you can seek out the few real estate agents who do work exclusively with home buyers. Even without a legal requirement, they designate themselves as exclusive buyer agents and avoid any trappings of dual agency. Only with an EBA can home buyers be certain that their agent’s sole fiduciary responsibility is to them… read more.
Yvonne A. Russell, REALTOR®
CELL (915) 873-8646
FAX (915) 594-9253
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