Every buyer is an entitled to an agent and since Buyer representation is free, why not have an agent in your corner? Before we began as an agents, Heather and I bought our first house - a cute Narberth cottage back in the late 1990s. Nearly everything related to the purchase, the sale, and the decade we resided there was pleasant. Like most folks who bought at the Millennium and then sold before the market imploded in 2008, we were and are still grateful that the cottage obtained a 50% increase in market value during our ownership.
Some things about that first, somewhat nerve-wracking transaction stand out in mind. (1) Shared Driveway. We swore we would never buy a house with a shared driveway based on the cottage experience. Sure enough, in 2009, we did buy a shared driveway twin, but this time we had a pre-existing relationship with our new neighbor, which helps gloss over any rough spots or tight squeezes. But we had no such platonic buffer with our shared driveway back at the cottage. At times, navigating the undivided blacktop was on par with tankers dueling in the Strait of Hormuz. Not fun. In retrospect, a Survey and the addition of an innocuous, paved divider might have helped.
(2) Just because a home inspector has an alliterative name that is synonymous with thoroughness and toughness in these parts, doesn't mean he or she is the person for the job. On reputation and referral I hired a local "name" inspector more suited to 7-figure deals. True to his word, the house held up But not so much the basement retaining wall that showed obvious signs of cracking and fatigue during the inspection. A complete home-buying neophyte at the time, I was gun shy about mentioning my concerns about the wall to the legendary inspector. Several years into ownership, the wall needed costly replacing. No big deal, but if it was obvious to me, how could a seasoned pro overlook a large crumbling wall affixed to a Tiny Cottage? Lessons learned: (a)There are no bad questions during a home inspection. (b) Don't hire a tank to deconstruct an ant hill.
(3) And finally, I learned a bit about Dual Agency - which is when the same Real Estate agent represents both the Buyer and the Seller... Our Agent at the time (our first agent ever), was also the Listing Agent for the Cottage that we purchased. She was the one who brought the cottage to our attention. Now I had once read about extenuating circumstances when One agent represents both Buyer and Seller, so I asked our agent if there was anything unusual about her handling both sides of the deal... She indicated it happens all the time and presented nothing unusual.
Common sense - the kind that should have alerted me to the potential pitfalls of a narrow, shared driveway and a cracked retaining wall, should have also led me to understand that One Person (One Agent), cannot be a confidential advocate for Buyer and Seller at the same time. Ideally, my Realtor would have proactively pointed this out. She was aware we were naive, uncoached, first-time buyers in need of an advocate dedicated to protecting our interests, without the baggage of a pre-existing fiduciary duty to the other side of the deal.
It's possible laws and disclosures were not as stringent in the 1990s as they are in the quasi Post-Apocalyptic world of Real Estate Regs that currently govern agents like myself.. In today's world, Realtors are required to proactively inform consumers about potential conflicts of interests. As it is, I can't say I was overtly harmed by allowing the Sellers' agent to also perform as my Buyers' agent. The deal we made was pretty much win-win, but I would have liked someone in my corner during the negotiations that came up at settlement. If my neutered agent had been on my team and not neutral, perhaps I would have made a few extra bucks.
In the long run, the money was and is is irrelevant. We got the house, enjoyed it, maintained it, and sold it for a good price, but I believe it was a breach of trust and exploitation of my naivete to have been counseled to act without an advocate in my corner.
Bottom Line: There are 3 primary types of Representation available to consumers of real estate services:
1- Seller Agency (Realtor works only on Sellers behalf),
2- Buyer Agency (Realtor works free on Buyers behalf),
3- Dual Agency (Realtor represents both sides in a NEUTRAL fashion) and is the advocate for Nobody so as to avoid conflict of interest.
If both parties are savvy and sophisticated and able to fend for themselves, Dual Agency isn't such a bad thing. Heck, since the agent is making a Double Commission (!), dual agency can be an opportunity for Seller and Buyer to neogitate some money back. But in a situation where either party is counting on someone to actively protect their interests and provide exclusive counsel, Dual Agency is not a good look.
When out home shopping, you can call the Listing Agent on the Lawn sign. Hear what he or she has to say as they may know things about the house other agents don't. But when it comes time to perform serious diligence or make an offer, Buyers are entitled to independent free representation and ought to get it. By the same token, Sellers have a right and interest in seeing their Listing agent does not double dip and dilute efforts on sellers behalf.
