The listing agent works for the seller, so anything you tell them can inform the seller's position. A buyer's representative provides access to unlisted property, honest assessment, pricing judgment and negotiation without your emotions in the room. Ask directly how representation is compensated, since practice has changed.
Working directly with the listing agent is defensible. It also means nobody in the transaction is working solely for you, and it is worth understanding what that means.
Buyers at the top of the market frequently work without their own representation, either because they approached the listing agent directly or because they assume that at this level they can handle it themselves.
Both are defensible positions. Both also mean nobody in the transaction is working solely for them, and it is worth understanding precisely what that means.
The seller. That is not a criticism, it is the arrangement.
A listing agent has a duty to obtain the best outcome for their client. They may be courteous, helpful and entirely professional with you, and they are still obliged to advance the seller's interests when yours and theirs diverge.
Anything you tell them can inform the seller's position. How much you like the property. What you would go to. Why you are moving and by when. A buyer who negotiates directly is negotiating against someone with more information than they have.
In some states one agent or one firm may represent both sides, with disclosure and consent. In others it is prohibited outright.
Where permitted, the agent's duties to both parties are necessarily limited. They cannot advocate for you against their other client. What they can do is facilitate a transaction, which is a different service from representation.
Buyers sometimes accept this believing it will produce a better price. It rarely does, and the seller is generally the party who benefits from the arrangement.
Beyond opening doors, which is the least of it.
Access to what is not listed. The private inventory question. An agent inside the local network hears about property before it is marketed, and that access does not come to unrepresented buyers.
Honest assessment. Someone whose job is to tell you the property has problems, the price is high, or the view will be built out. The listing agent will not volunteer any of that.
Pricing judgment. What comparable properties actually traded for, what withdrew unsold, and where this one sits. Public data is incomplete and lags.
Negotiating without your emotions in the room. A buyer who has fallen for a house negotiates badly. A representative does not have that problem.
Diligence coordination. Knowing which specialists a property needs and which local ones are worth using.
Local knowledge that is not written down. Which streets flood, which neighbor is difficult, what happened to the last sale on that block.
This has changed and continues to vary, so ask directly rather than assuming.
Buyer representation agreements setting out compensation are now standard practice in many markets. What is being agreed, who pays it, and whether it can be sought from the seller are all questions to settle in writing at the outset.
Read the agreement properly. Term, exclusivity, scope of properties covered, and what happens if you buy something they did not show you.
It is not always wrong.
A buyer who knows the market thoroughly, has bought there before, has their own attorney and inspection team, and is buying a straightforward property may not need much added.
Even then, engage an attorney. Doing without both representation and counsel on an eight-figure transaction is a false economy of a fairly dramatic kind.
Who in this transaction is obliged to tell me something I would rather not hear?
If the answer is nobody, that is the gap. Whether you fill it with an agent, an attorney, or both is a matter of preference. Leaving it open is the thing worth avoiding.
You can, but they act for the seller and are obliged to advance the seller's interests where yours diverge. Anything you tell them can inform the seller's position, so you would be negotiating against someone with more information.
Where one agent or firm represents both sides, permitted in some states with disclosure and prohibited in others. Duties to both parties are necessarily limited, so it is facilitation rather than representation.
Access to property that is not publicly listed, honest assessment of a property's problems, pricing judgment from data the public record does not show, negotiation without your emotions involved, and local knowledge that is not written down anywhere.
Practice has changed and varies, so ask directly. Buyer representation agreements setting out compensation are now standard in many markets. Settle who pays, how much, and whether it can be sought from the seller in writing at the outset.
Where you know the market thoroughly, have bought there before, and have your own attorney and inspection team. Even then, engage the attorney — doing without both representation and counsel on a large transaction is a false economy.
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