I am a Listing Agent.
I represent the seller to ensure that I obtain the best possible price given current market and property conditions. I market their homes with professional imagery and a strong internet and social media campaign. I have a fiduciary responsibility to look out for my seller’s best interest throughout the transaction.
I am a Buyer’s Agent.
I represent the buyer to find their dream home, write an attractive offer that represents what my buyer is willing to pay, but also what is a fair market price for the property in question. I protect my buyer with certain contingencies and terms written into the contract, with a strong analysis of current market conditions, and with my access to the best inspectors in the metro area. I have a fiduciary responsibility to look out for my buyer’s best interest throughout the transaction.
I am one. Or I am the other. I will not be both.
I could be both. Legally. The State of Oregon says so, and I disclose this to all clients up front (a requirement, by the way). But even as I disclose this information, the very next words out of my mouth are that I will not “double end” their deal. I can steadfastly represent the seller. Or I can vigorously represent the buyer. But I cannot do both. Not really. Not the way each client would expect, anyway. Certainly not the way each client deserves.
If I were to represent both parties, I could not share anything with one that would be adverse to the other. I would basically be passing paper between parties with minimal comment, and no advise. But for twice the price.
Why would any buyer want this? I want to provide advice and information that is absolutely adverse to the other party, and not suffer any ethical dilemmas because of it. If I learn something in my negotiations with the listing agent, I get to share it with my buyer. Provided, of course, I do not represent both parties.
The Myth of Going Straight to the Listing Agent
I do not know how or where this idea, this myth, started. I do not know if it was a notion on a popular home improvement show, or a real estate blog, or a home owners seminar. But somewhere along the line, buyers got the idea that if they went straight to the listing agent, they could somehow “get a deal.” If they went straight to the listing agent, the fiduciary responsibility that a listing agent owes to the seller suddenly falls away when the prospect of doubling the agent’s income comes into play. Portland has been in a strong seller’s market for quite some time now. I understand that can lead to desperation, especially if buyers have suffered a few setbacks with offers that were not accepted. Resist the urge. Your position in the negotiation of your new home matters.
Why You Need a Buyer’s Agent.
Sellers have an agent representing their best interests. Buyers should too. Buying or selling a home is often the single biggest transaction that any of us ever participate in. Working with someone who does several of these transactions per year, who is current on the latest rules, laws, forms, and local market practices goes a long way to ensuring a smooth transaction. Working with a buyer’s agent with a network of professionals from mortgage brokers to title and escrow officers to home inspectors and contractors makes sense.
Your buyer’s agent can research the area where your potential new home is located, and can provide a professional, considered opinion as to the price set by the seller and the listing agent, develop a contingency strategy for the contract, and advise you as to up-to-date market conditions that are driving factors behind a winning offer. Third party websites that do not contain a full picture of the most recent market data, or do not understand the delicate art and science behind what is an actual comparable property often paint an incomplete, skewed picture of the current trends happening in real estate.
Negotiating price, contingencies, and repairs are all part of the services that your buyer’s agent provides. (Click here for a fuller picture of services provided by a buyer’s agent). Negotiations by their very nature are adverse. This does not mean they are contentious. But when one party wants something from another party, their interests are not perfectly aligned. Until they are. After there is give and take. That process of give and take, that dance, is best conducted between two agents, each representing their client’s best interest, each trained in the art of negotiation and having no emotional attachment to the home in question. Do not give up your right to representation because you think you are somehow saving money (you are not), or because you think you have a better shot at buying a home (you do not) in a particularly tough market. Your best bet is to work with someone who does this every day, and who has a fiduciary responsibility to look out for your best interests.
– By Danni Duggan, OR Real Estate Broker, Premiere Property Group, LLC
If you are looking for a home in the Portland Metro Area, it would be my honor and my privilege to interview with you to see if we would be a great fit to work together to get you where you want to be. Feel free to contact me for a meeting.
If you are seeking a trusted REALTOR® outside of the state of Oregon, contact me. I am happy to provide you with my most trusted referrals throughout the U.S. You deserve the absolute best representation, and it would be my pleasure to help you secure it.