4. Lawful Obedience 5. Reasonable Care and Skill 6. Full Accounting of monies
Should I Sign a Buyer Brokerage Agreement?
I've had buyers tell me they didn't want to commit to one agent in writing as they are afraid they would miss out on an opportunity. If you're working with a good agent, it's very rare you will hear of another opportunity that your agent didn't already make you aware of. Loyalty goes both ways, and I can tell you from experience when you are in a committed relationship you try harder. As an agent it's a comfortable feeling to put in a lot of work behind the scenes to find a client the perfect property when you know they are committed to working with you. Agents only get paid if they find their buyers the perfect home, which means agents have to be careful where they invest their time or they may work hard for free if their buyer doesn't stay loyal. In Alberta agents are allowed to represent both buyers and sellers in a Real Estate transaction, but as you can probably understand it does come with a price, it's called "conflict of interest". It's almost impossible to give the same fiduciary duties to both buyer and seller at the same time, so you may ask "how does that work"? Good question, the answer is "not easy". Some buyers think if they contact the listing agent, they will get a better deal because they believe the seller will now only have pay 1 commission due to the fact that there is now only one agent involved. This of course would allow the buyers to benefit from the commission savings. This situation may seem attractive on paper but let's weigh out the pros and cons carefully. Let's first understand the role of the listing agent. The seller has hired the listing agent to sell the property for the most money, right? So, if you were the seller, you probably wouldn't want your
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