Part 6 of 7

From Section IX. THE ALTERNATIVES TO DUAL AGENCY: SINGLE AGENCY OR SUBAGENCY: “As a practical matter, real estate brokers should avoid dual agency relationships. Creation of a lawful disclosed dual agency relationship is so difficult that a real estate broker who attempts to conduct his day-to-day affairs as a disclosed dual agent is playing the professional equivalent of Russian roulette. The obvious alternative to dual agency is single agency: A real estate broker should have one and only one principal per transaction; he should loyally and diligently pursue the legitimate interests of his principal; and he should scrupulously avoid accepting or exercising any authority on behalf of the other party to the transaction.”

From Section VIII. Part D. The Seller’s Agent Leads the Buyer to Believe the Agent Is Representing the Buyer: “Real estate brokers representing sellers cannot perform their obligation to procure a ready, willing, and able buyer for their client’s property unless they seek out qualified buyers. A real estate transaction by definition requires a seller and a buyer. Thus, it is perfectly natural and necessary for real estate brokers representing sellers to do everything they can to attract buyers. Buyers are attracted to brokers with whom they feel comfortable and are able to develop rapport and communication. This is no surprise because this is the essence of selling.”

“Too often, however, brokers in their zeal to arrange a sale satisfactory to both parties encourage the buyer to believe that the broker is working “for” him rather than “with” him. Simply put, the broker allows or even induces the buyer to believe that he is the broker’s client, when, in fact, the broker has already established a client relationship with the seller by executing a listing agreement or by acting as a subagent of a listing broker.”

(Continue To Part 7 of 7