Dual agency for a lower price: yay or nay?

[Patricia J.]

I am in the process of purchasing a condo as investment, and it occurred to me I may get a deal on the purchase price if I ask the listing agent to represent me as the buyer as well. I thought the agent, in wanting to get both sides' commission, would try to make the deal work even if my offer price is lower than the market price. 

Has anybody tried this? Am I mistaken in my reasoning? I have purchased properties before and am fairly familiar with the documents and purchasing process myself. 

Thank you! 

[Russell Brazil]

I see people on BP post this idea time in and time out, and frankly it is ridiculous.  This only works if the listing agent happens to be unethical and is more concerned with double ending the deal than representing their client. Sure there are some people out there like that, but how many of those people are listing a ton of properties? Not many.  

As a listing agent, I love when unrepresented buyers come directly to me, not so much since I can make more commission, but because I know that buyer is going to pay more and waive contingencies than if they had proper representation....then I convince them what a good deal they got, and how smart they were for not getting another agent involved.