Selling our primary home, dual agent offer received.
Hello we are currently selling our primary home and we just had an open house last weekend. We received an offer on Tuesday, but it's a dual agent situation. I.e., our listing agent is also representing the buyer.
Is this something I should be concerned about? I honestly don't see how our agent can still act in the same unbiased manner and represent solely our interests when an additional 75k or so is at stake for her if we accept this offer. Or am I being too paranoid? Our agent is saying that sometimes folks come to open houses without an agent and will accept being their agent if they request it. I know that's true, but do people looking at homes in our price range really not have an agent they are working with? What is the industry standard for best practices in this situation?
Thanks!
Most Popular Reply
I do not see how an agent can provide honest and fair represent to both parties in the same transaction. I get that its legal in some states (not here in MD), but I can not wrap my head around how it could be ethical. How can they represent their seller client's best interest and their buyer client's best interest at the same time?
Thats not to say that an agent can't double end the transaction if one of the parties is unrepresented - that is a different story. Do you know for certain that your agent has signed a Buyer Representation Agreement with the buyer and made them a client? If there is not an Agent/Client relationship then this buyer is just an unrepresented consumer, in which case I would have no concerns assuming you trust your agent to continue to represent your best interests.