A Question about Real Estate Agent Protocol/Transactions...? Anyone Know? (sales, houses)

[EnglishRoses]

I am writing with questions about real estate agents as I am not sure what the protocol is in my situation.

I am going to be looking at different towns for a property to buy. Because not all agents are familiar with the real estate in every town....is it okay to just talk to one agent in each town? I know that agents often want to sell property and can sell property in any part of the state---BUT how familiar are they with every town? And it cannot be convenient for them to be traipsing hundreds of miles to show a house.

So, my question: Is it okay to have a different agent from each town I am considering moving to? Would I be offending the agents? Also, if Blondie Bumstead had a listing with Bumstead Properties, and I fell in love with the house and wanted to buy it BUT my agent was Ellie Mae Clampett of Granny's Houses---would Ellie still get some sort of compensation for selling me Blondie's house? I would like to think so, especially if they have been spending time showing me houses...and I end up with one that they are not listing!

What on earth is a "buyer's agent"....?? I always thought that was just the person that you approached to show you houses to buy. Someone said to me that it was not as simple as that....?

What does happen if you DO want to buy a listing from the same agent that is also intent on selling you a property? (Hmmm?) Who is he/she
going to champion? This is another one I have always wondered about.

Any info would be most appreciated....as I try to get back in the real estate loop again.....

Thank you!

[AnywhereElse]

That's a set of tough questions when you will be working in several areas. My understanding: if my house is on the market and I have an agent, that is the seller's agent and if I were you, not knowing the area, I would not chose the person that is the seller's agent since their major loyalty according to the law is to the seller - say, you decide to use my agent, the seller's agent and you say "I'll offer low at first to see if they will take it but I have no problem going at least $5,000 more - well, expect my agent to give me this information. You really want to educate yourself on this. I wouldn't try using the same agent to look at properties in several different towns - I hope you do your best to narrow down your choices. And, yes, normally there is a split of the sales commission among those involved with the listing agency keeping the lion's share.

[holmesmic]

I think your question would be better answered here:

http://www.city-data.com/forum/real-estate/