ELV!S

As long as the agent who is asking to represent you is not the "listing agent", I don't have a problem with allowing her to act as a dual (office) agent. While the agency is, indeed, functioning as a dual-agent in this situation, the agent can effectively represent you against an office colleague.

We take a fierce pride in obtaining a good deal for our client, with an eye down-the-road for future business. If you feel that this agent represented you well, and helped you get a good deal, 3, 5, 10 years down the road, you may contact her to help you sell the property.

If the agent is also the listing agent on the property, I would ask to be represented by someone else. While this dual-agency is also legal in California, I find it to be a dramatic conflict of interest. Even though it is "possible" for an agent to departmentalize their mind, to represent two different clients at the same time, the reality is that they stand to gain / lose a great deal of money if the deal goes south, and they can't turn that off.

When you follow the money, and find that the entire commission goes to one individual, I think the conflict is just too strong. Better to avoid the temptation. - A few hours ago

lynn, I'm not sure why dual-agency, (or transactional agency in some states) is legal. In my opinion, it's a morass, and a law-suit waiting to happen.

Yes, technically, as a disclosed-dual-agent, your agent should be working for both of you, but in reality, they are now really working mostly for to hold the deal together, and the person benefiting the most from the 'dual-agency' situation is the agent themselves.

That being said, 'dual-agency' doesn't really sound like the villain here. Realtors are not inspectors, nor should we be behaving as inspectors. That's what inspectors are for, and that's what they do best. Yes, we should be attending our inspections (and in this case on your behalf) and helping you interpret the information found, and assist in reviewing the report. You haven't really told us what the "issues" are, so it's hard to tell you whether your agent should have "recommended those issues for further investigation"... but clearly you had a conversation about the inspection, and had an opportunity to talk with the inspector that you hired.

If the inspector overlooked something major, you should know that inspectors (at least the good ones) carry insurance for errors and omissions. If you can prove that the sellers didn't disclose something (very hard to do), then they may hold some liability.

This is a text-book case of why dual-agency is a bad idea. At the time, you probably felt like your agent was fully on your side. And now, a year and a half down the road, you're wondering if you were mishandled. - A few hours ago

Agents don't have listings. Companies do.
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My bad, you're right...that's how it works in Jersey... of course in this situation that would make them an "undisclosed" dual agent... which is, I believe, illegal.

In Illinois, a non-listing agent from the same office would not be considered a dual or listing agent. And, yes, I understand that would not help Elaine. - A few hours ago

Paul, it's also possible that the "sitting" agent was not the listing agent, and therefore dual agency was not involved.

Elaine, my guess would be that the open-house agent doesn't have a leg to stand on. Sitting an open house and greeting viewers as they come through does not, in an of itself, form an agency relationship. What has your agent said about this situation... what has his managing broker said? Are they concerned?

I'm not an attorney, and I'm not on the arbitration board, but I wouldn't be worried if I were your agent. - Earlier today

The very first thing you need to do is become a part of Jessica Simpson's posse. Once you've done that, then you need to work your way up the ladder to "best posse member", and then, (and only then) maybe you can become her best friend.

While you're doing this, make sure you get your RE license (if you can find a few days time off from posse-dom), once you're in best friend to a celeb-city, you should start saying things like "Oh, Jess (she likes to be called "Jess", but only by close friends) this house is sooooooo beneath you. You should buy that one on Coldwater Canyon... you know the one that Telly Savalas, and Water Mathau used to own?? It's way cooler than this one..."

Then, when she says (with that vacant look in her eyes)... "I wouldn't know how to go about doing that" you can swoop in as Super-Real-Estate-Agent-to-the-vacant-eyed-Stars-Girl and save the day.

High Five! - Earlier today

I love a national forum...

"front foot fee"? We call those Special Service Area fees, where the development is new, and the owners of those new homes are paying yearly for the very expensive installation of the local infrastructure (streets, sewers, lighting, power lines, gas lines, sidewalks, phone lines, etc...)

(front foot fee... funny :-!) - Yesterday, 10:14