Quote:
Originally Posted by cschin4
I don't understand this. Where I live, the real estate agent is contracted by the seller. The Seller and the agent have the contract with each other and therefore the fiduciary responsibility of the agent is toward the seller. You can hire an agent to represent you as a buyer if you choose but this is pretty rare. The buyer has no contract with the real estate agent and the agent technically does not represent their interest. But, it does behoove them in the long run to try to make everyone happy.
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The agent who has signed with the sellers is obligated to see to their interests first. The second agent who represents the buyer is obligated to see to the buyers interest first. It is a two party negotiation with each party being fully represented by a professional. Do you think that it's so rare for buyers to be taken advantage of in the process of a sale that they don't need someone looking out for their best interest? Why should only the seller have protection- and why should it come from both their agent and the agent working with the buyers?
It's rather surprising (to me anyway) how much this varies around the country. My comment about the east and both agents having an obligation to the seller was just a generalization. The further west you move, the more protections there are in place for the buyer- as a general rule.