be avoided. While doing the work yourself can save you money if you buy a “For Sale By Owner” (FSBO) house and the seller agrees to reduce the price to offset agent compensation, for many, a do-it-yourself home purchase might be pricier than a real estate agent’s compensation in the long run. On most home sales, there is a listing agent (the agent engaged by the seller to sell the property) and a selling agent (the agent who introduces the eventual buyer into the transaction). The selling agent is sometimes called the “buyer’s agent” because he or she is often working on a certain buyer’s behalf, and it’s easier than explaining that the selling agent is not the listing agent but really the buyer’s agent. There are some real estate agents that market themselves as “buyer’s agents,” “exclusive buyer’s agents,” or “buyer’s representatives.” These real estate agents have chosen to make a business of finding homes for prospective buyers and handling the negotiations and transactions attendant to the purchase. These agents want to accentuate the reasons a buyer shouldn’t go directly to the listing agent when they purchase real estate. A buyer who goes directly to the listing agent and allows that agent to “manage” both sides of the transaction is dealing with an agent who has conflicting responsibilities. Their job is to get a good price for the seller, and they might not zealously represent the interests of the buyer. These scenarios are legal, but not recommended in my honest opinion. The agent involved (actually the listing agent's broker) becomes what is called an "intermediary". It gets a little complicated but basically, if one agent is "helping" both the buyer and the seller, that is called "intermediary without appointments" (aka dual agency) and the agent cannot give advice to the sellers nor to the buyers. Therefore, they are really not "helping" either party, right? They can legally only act as a paper pusher or go between, passing information between buyers and sellers without giving advice to
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