It’s been my experience that Dual Agency is great thing for the agent and can be the absolute best thing for both buyers and sellers. Understand: A real estate transaction will not go well OR go badly because of the number of agents involved. Think about it: ...“Dual” is merely quantitative. “Agency” is importantly qualitative. If the Agent is bad, his Dual Agency will be doubly bad. If the Agent is good, the outcome of the Dual Agency will likely have excellent results for both buyers and sellers.
For one thing, a good listing agent naturally knows more about a property than most any buyer’s agent. The listing agent will therefore be able to disclose more intimately to a buyer all of the potential drawbacks and downsides of the property. If after a fuller knowledge of the good, bad and ugly of a property the buyer still wants to proceed at the offered price, the transaction should conclude well.
What makes a good agent? The good agent will act with care, integrity, honesty and loyalty in dealings with Seller and Buyer; the good agent will exercise skill and care; be honest and fair, deal in good faith; and disclose all facts materially affecting the value or desirability of the property.
The bad agent will attempt to seek unfair advantage for one party at the expense of the other (suppression of derogatory material facts, concealment of defects and lack of disclosure) … and that’s bad whether the agent is representing just one party or all parties in the sale.
If a capable professional agent with a “win-win” mind-set is in charge of both sides of the transaction, it will go better for all. In contrast, if one agent in the deal is dishonest or an inept, things are likely to go south. You see, “Dual” has nothing to do with it … “Agency” is everything.
After nearly 40 years as a REALTOR® and having closed approaching thousands of transactions, hundreds of them being Dual Agency, I can unequivocally state that nearly 100% of my Dual Agency escrows have culminated in very happy clients and winning outcomes for all parties. What did Mike Ferry used to say? “It’s so much easier to work with the other agent … when you ARE the other agent.
So for all you quality agents out there: Protect yourself and your clients … Double end as many as you can!
For one thing, a good listing agent naturally knows more about a property than most any buyer’s agent. The listing agent will therefore be able to disclose more intimately to a buyer all of the potential drawbacks and downsides of the property. If after a fuller knowledge of the good, bad and ugly of a property the buyer still wants to proceed at the offered price, the transaction should conclude well.
What makes a good agent? The good agent will act with care, integrity, honesty and loyalty in dealings with Seller and Buyer; the good agent will exercise skill and care; be honest and fair, deal in good faith; and disclose all facts materially affecting the value or desirability of the property.
The bad agent will attempt to seek unfair advantage for one party at the expense of the other (suppression of derogatory material facts, concealment of defects and lack of disclosure) … and that’s bad whether the agent is representing just one party or all parties in the sale.
If a capable professional agent with a “win-win” mind-set is in charge of both sides of the transaction, it will go better for all. In contrast, if one agent in the deal is dishonest or an inept, things are likely to go south. You see, “Dual” has nothing to do with it … “Agency” is everything.
After nearly 40 years as a REALTOR® and having closed approaching thousands of transactions, hundreds of them being Dual Agency, I can unequivocally state that nearly 100% of my Dual Agency escrows have culminated in very happy clients and winning outcomes for all parties. What did Mike Ferry used to say? “It’s so much easier to work with the other agent … when you ARE the other agent.
So for all you quality agents out there: Protect yourself and your clients … Double end as many as you can!