Selling FSBO - buyer's agent now wants to be transaction agent

[Kay March]

I'm selling a rental house as a FSBO. An agent brought me a buyer. The buyer's agent says that in order for the transaction to proceed, he will transition from being a buyer's agent to being the transaction agent with a 4% commission. I'm assuming that this means the buyer will no longer owe him a commission and I will owe him a 4% seller's commission. Am I correct about that? I've sold as FSBO before, but I always paid 3% while the buyer also paid 3%. I haven't done it the way this agent is proposing to do it, so I'm wondering what others might think about it.

[John Thedford]

Transaction has no fiduciary duties to a buyer or seller. It is a more limited form of representation, and tells the buyer or seller "hey I am not working on your behalf, I am not representing you, but the transaction and I am working to get this deal done".  

There are three ways to broker a deal:
Transaction brokerage--which is the default
Single agency--which requires the most duties including fiduciary duties, confidentiality, obedience, AND loyalty
No brokerage...which mean they work with a buyer or seller as a non-representative...which only requires dealing honestly and fairly, accounting for all funds, and disclosing all known material facts that affect the property which are not readily observable. 

YOU are paying the commission no matter what the representation is...and whether the other parties' agent is representing the transaction OR acting in a single agency capacity. Because the property was not listed, a transaction brokerage relationship makes sense. They are NOT taking sides...just trying to help the two parties reach an agreement and get it closed. This is why an agent can list a property and sell it too...representing the transaction and not either party.