Is Dual Agency Risky? - Fridays with Fred

If you’re thinking about buying or selling a home in Southern California, or elsewhere in the United States, you may have heard about the term “dual agency”. This term applies to situations where a Real Estate agent represents both the buyer and seller.

There are actually two types of dual agencies though. The first one is called “Dual Agency”; this occurs when two agents from the same brokerage are representing the buyer and seller in a transaction. 

 “Dual Agency” isn’t bad because both agents are independent of each other, so there’s no chance of any type of conflict in the transaction even though they both work for the same brokerage.

Dual Agency Vs. Dual Representation

The second type of Dual Agency is “Dual Representation”. This occurs when one agent is representing both the buyer and seller in a Real Estate transaction. 

Although Dual Representation isn’t necessarily a bad thing, especially since many agents in today’s world have no problems representing both the buyer and seller at the same time, this isn’t the preferred scenario for some agents out there, including those who work at the Fred Sed Group.

Over the years we’ve purposely avoided Dual Representation because the reality is that when one of our agents is working hard to sell a client’s home for top dollar, how can they possibly provide the best service to the buyer at the same time?

We believe that every party in a Real Estate transaction should have their own representation when it comes to buying or selling Real Estate. Doing this eliminates the possibility of any ethical issues coming up and ensures that both the buyer and seller have their best interests represented.

Real Estate Is A Legal Transaction

Ultimately, Real Estate is a legal transaction and anyone who is buying or selling a home should want to have their own representation.

Let’s look at dual representation from a legal perspective. If you were being sued for $500,000, would you also want to hire the same attorney that’s representing the individual who is suing you? Of course not. 

Dual representation in a lawsuit wouldn’t make sense. There’s no way you could ever have confidence that your attorney was representing your best interests, especially if you lost the case and had to pay the $500,000!

Before buying or selling a home in SoCal, or elsewhere nationwide, we encourage you to make sure that your agent is representing just you. Your goal should be to walk away from the transaction with confidence that you were able to buy a home for a great price, or sell your home for top dollar.

Contact the Fred Sed Group

To learn more about dual agency vs. dual representation, or to view homes for sale in Southern California contact the Fred Sed Group today by calling (800) 921-9231 or connect with us online.