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Find Out Whom The Agent Represents
(Fall)

By By , USA

Find Out Whom The Agent Represents
The first issue to determine is whether or not the agent can legally be your advocate.Most states have an agency disclosure form and asking about the form is a great way for you to open up a discussion if the agent does not bring it up first.

You can ask the agent if they represent buyers, sellers, or both and how they handle conflicts that can come up if you, as a represented buyer, are interested in a home that their firm has listed (representing the seller).

Don't let them minimize the importance of this issue if the company has a lot of listings in the marketplace.After all, the more listings they have, the greater the chance that you will find your dream home among them!

Consumer advocates advise that first-time home buyers are best served by buyer's agents.Buyer's agents can legally look out for your interests unlike traditional real estate agents who represent home sellers.

But not all buyer's agents are the same so you will want to dig deeper to find out if they work exclusively for buyers or practice a form of buyer agency that can end up in "dual agency".

Dual agency comes into play when a real estate office or agent represents both buyers and sellers and results in the agent taking a neutral position so you may lose the advocacy at a time when you need it the most.Determining an offer price and if there are better houses to choose from may be very important to you at this critical point.