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Our agent simply suggested, when signing the paperwork, that she doesn't recommend allowing her to represent the buying party as well (so she can provide us as much un-hindered advice as possible), which I was fine with. Could it have reduce our overall costs? Probably slightly, but I was fine with taking that small hit.
I really appreciate this feedback. I feel all agents should be honest like yours and tell sellers all the options that are available to them and explain the differences in detail. IMHO, agents and the industry would have a much better reputation if they did so. I don't think it's right that agents just assume that sellers want to have the transaction brokerage relationship when the single-agent option is available, especially since it seems to me that it's the superior choice for me as the seller. I feel I'd be getting the best bang for my buck, or at least that's what is becoming more clear to me the longer I think about and agonize over this mess, but, again, I hope I'm not misunderstanding all this again. My head hurts.
The listing agent loses money, if they are reducing their commission, if they have a buyer.
Say the usual comm is 3% listing/3%buyers agent, and they agree to reduce total commission to 5% if they bring the buyer and act as an intermediary.
They get 5%.
But if they sold your house to a different buyer that had their own agent, and sold a different house to their buyer they would get 6%...3 on your listing and 3% on house they have their buyer buy.
With all due respect, I find this attitude ridiculous, but I'm a little grumpy at the moment. Agents need to do what's right for their customers versus what's right for their wallet. And I hardly think agents are losing money either way considering most of these homes around here are pending in a few days. I was in outside business-to-business sales for a couple decades, and I had to prospect CFO's and VP's of Finance at Fortune 500 companies in a very tough industry. They didn't call me for my services. AND I had to do extensive proposals and presentations and travel all over the country to meet with them more times than I can count before I even hoped to have a deal. I could go on and on, but I'll just leave it at that.
If I sell a house the agent is to bring all offers. I might draw a line at stupid low offers say 40% less than asking but I’m gonna wanna see all the offers that are made. Good bad and ugly. The agent is not gonna make the decision as to what offers I see.
Even verbal offers? I've been wondering about this, too, because I have to check if I don't want verbal offers. I didn't even realize buyers could do that. What good are offers if they're not in writing?
Thanks everyone for your opinions. I wish I would have known before submitting my thread that dual agency is illegal in Florida, and we only have single agency or transaction brokerage. I wonder if that fact would make a difference in the outcome of my poll. The agreement the agent sent me shows they’d be acting in a transaction brokerage capacity, BUT in the Additional Terms it states that if she brings the buyer, as the listing agent and the selling agent, then the commission is reduced from 5% to 4%. The reason I’ve been confused is I wrongly assumed all along that she was going to be my fiduciary and represent my best interests, but I know now that she’d be a neutral party if she represents both sides in the transaction! After doing more research, I now understand (or at least I hope I do!!) that a dual agency has a fiduciary responsibility to both sides, but we don't have that in Florida so in my case, she and anyone in her brokerage would be a neutral party and give limited representation to both parties in the same transaction. I have to say that as a seller, I’m extremely annoyed at how confusing a dual agency is compared to a transaction broker IF the listing agent or anyone in her brokerage brings the buyer because I thought it was the same thing.
Not wishing to cause you more headaches, but a "Dual Agent" can't have a fiduciary responsibility to opposing sides. They need to be neutral. The role of a Dual Agent is essentially the same as a Transaction Broker--however "Transaction Broker" is a much more appropriate phrase because it doesn't imply that there is some type of agency relationship involved. That's why I consider the term "Dual Agent" to be a misnomer...and why a number of states prohibit Dual Agency.
Just relax a bit and don't try to over-think it. Do you prefer to have an agent in your corner, or are you comfortable having a person on the sidelines handling the paperwork?
Even verbal offers? I've been wondering about this, too, because I have to check if I don't want verbal offers. I didn't even realize buyers could do that. What good are offers if they're not in writing?
They're not. It's just a discussion to possibly get the ball rolling. As a Buyer I would never make a verbal "offer" because they are easier to reject. I want to give the Seller something to seriously consider. If it's not binding, why bother?
Even verbal offers? I've been wondering about this, too, because I have to check if I don't want verbal offers. I didn't even realize buyers could do that. What good are offers if they're not in writing?
Licensed agents MUST relay all offers to their clients. Written or Verbal. It is the client's role to decide how to proceed. We only advise.
Not wishing to cause you more headaches, but a "Dual Agent" can't have a fiduciary responsibility to opposing sides. They need to be neutral. The role of a Dual Agent is essentially the same as a Transaction Broker--however "Transaction Broker" is a much more appropriate phrase because it doesn't imply that there is some type of agency relationship involved. That's why I consider the term "Dual Agent" to be a misnomer...and why a number of states prohibit Dual Agency.
Just relax a bit and don't try to over-think it. Do you prefer to have an agent in your corner, or are you comfortable having a person on the sidelines handling the paperwork?
Thanks for your additional feedback, and sorry for the delay. I totally agree that a dual agent can't have a fiduciary relationship, which is why it was bugging me. It seems most agents are transactions brokers so I'll probably have the listing agent hand over any buyer she finds to another agent in her brokerage although I guess it really doesn't make any difference since agents talk anyway!
I guarantee that most sellers assume that the listing agent that they're hiring is going to be in their corner, and they're totally clueless about the whole transaction broker thing. IMO, there should be a lot more transparency about this, and every agent should be required to disclose and explain to sellers in detail and in person that there are different types of relationships that they can have with their agent when they list their house.
And thanks for reminding me that I need to relax a bit and don't try to over-think it. I needed that because I'm not good at either one.
Of course you can let them bring you a buyer. You agree on the price... so they aren't really a fiduciary. Fee goes down so its a win/win.
I know what you mean, but it would be nice to know that the agent I'm paying a lot of money to is on my side and can give me advice on things like the inspection, repairs or whatever else. I'm sure I'll get over it and learn to like the concept because I want to sell my house. Thanks for your feedback.
Licensed agents MUST relay all offers to their clients. Written or Verbal. It is the client's role to decide how to proceed. We only advise.
Thanks. There's a box on the listing agreement that I was sent where sellers can check if they want the agent to withhold verbal offers. It sounds like your sellers don't have that option. Verbal offers seem like a big waste of time to me if they're not in writing, but maybe I'll look at it differently later.
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