The listing agent wants to write my offer too

I found a small three bedroom through an open house and the agent who was standing in the kitchen handing out flyers said she could just write the offer for me and save everyone time. She slid a form across the counter called consent to dual agency and said it's routine.

I don't have my own agent yet. That's on me, I've been looking for about five weeks and figured I'd sort out representation when I found something worth chasing. Asking is 289k, I'd want to come in around 275k and ask for a credit toward a roof that looks close to done.

What I can't work out is who is arguing for the 275 if she's also getting paid by the person who wants 289. She said she'd be neutral and just pass information both ways. That sounds fine until I want somebody to tell me the seller has already had one deal fall out, which she'd know and I wouldn't.

The form has a line about the agent not disclosing either party's price flexibility to the other. So the exact thing I want to know is the exact thing she's promising not to tell me.

Decision in front of me: sign it and move fast on a house I like, or spend a week finding a buyer's agent and risk it going under contract. Nobody else showed up at the open house, for what that's worth.

Answer

-1monica_tran3SF4CPRO6

That neutral line is worth reading carefully. In most states a dual agent is limited to passing along facts about the property and can't advocate on price for either side, but the exact duties vary state to state, so read your form and ask her to point to the statute it's written under.

The practical piece from my end: the failed prior deal is usually a material fact about the house if it fell out over inspection, and might be nothing if it fell out over the buyer's financing. Different categories. Ask her directly whether anything came up in the prior inspection, because that question she generally does have to answer.

3 replies

2jordan_ellis2ActivePRO6

Nobody showing at an open house on a Sunday tells you something. That house is not going anywhere in a week, and if it does, you were bidding against someone with better information than you.

I'd take the week. The dual agency form you're describing is doing what it says. She keeps both sides' cards face down, which sounds even until you notice she already saw yours.

1chriswalton8CC1CPRO8

kestrel, you said the roof looks close to done. That's the whole negotiation and you're planning to run it through someone who gets paid more if the credit is smaller. Even assuming she's completely straight with you, she has no reason to help you build the case for 14k off plus a roof allowance. Get someone whose only paycheck comes from your side of the table.