Working With A Realtor

The following will explain the relationships that can exist between a client and a Realtor® when conducting a real estate transaction. This explanation is also available in an Adobe® Acrobat® PDF document format that cam be viewed or downloaded here.

You will need a copy of Adobe® Reader® to view or print this document and it can be obtained at no charge from the Adobe® web site here.

The Agency Relationship

REALTORS® work within a legal relationship called agency. The agency relationship exists between you, the principal, and your brokerage, the company under which the individual representing you is licensed. The essence of the agency relationship is that the brokerage has the authority to represent the principal in dealings with others.

Brokerages and their licensees are legally obligated to protect and promote the interests of their principals as they would their own. Specifically, the brokerage has the following duties.

1. Undivided loyalty. The brokerage must protect the principal's negotiating position at all times, and disclose all known facts which may affect or influence the principal's decision.
2. To obey all lawful instructions of the principal.
3. An obligation to keep the confidences of the principal.
4. To exercise reasonable care and skill in performing all assigned duties.
5. To account for all money and property placed in a brokerage's hands while acting for the principal.

You can expect competent service from your brokerage, knowing that the company is bound by ethics and the law to be honest and thorough in representing a property listed for sale or lease. Both buyer/tenant and seller/landlord can be represented by their own brokerages in a single transaction.

Dual Agency

Dual agency occurs when a brokerage is representing both buyer/tenant and seller/landlord in the same transaction. Since the brokerage has promised a duty of confidentiality, loyalty and full disclosure to both parties simultaneously, it is necessary to limit these duties in this situation, if both parties consent.

If you find yourself involved in a dual agency relationship, before making or receiving an offer, both you and the other party will be asked to consent, in writing, to this new limited agency relationship.

This relationship involves the following limitations:

When There is No Agency Relationship

You may also choose to use the services of a REALTOR® without having any kind of agency relationship. This might occur, for example, when you are being shown a property by the seller's/landlord's agent.

The REALTOR® you choose to work with in this manner has a legal and ethical duty to provide you with accurate, honest answers to your questions and may provide all these services:

• Explain real estate terms and practices
• Provide and explain forms used
• Assist you in screening and viewing properties
• Inform you of lenders and their policies
• Identify and estimate costs involved in a transaction
• Assist you in establishing your range of affordability
• Prepare offers or counter-offers at your direction
• Present all offers promptly

A REALTOR® who is not your agent cannot:

• Recommend or suggest a price
• Inform you of his/her principal's top/bottom line
• Disclose any confidential information about his/her principal unless otherwise authorized

You should not provide a REALTOR® who is not your agent with any information that you would not provide directly to his or her principal.

Members of the public are aware that, in most cases, properties offered for sale by members of the real estate profession have a commission or fee that the seller/landlord has agreed to pay to the listing brokerage.

The listing brokerage traditionally shares this commission/fee with the cooperating brokerage. Commission and fee may vary.

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