A broker and that broker’s associated license holders can represent both the buyer and seller in the same transaction through intermediary—but there are many rules to follow.
Get answers to common questions about intermediary and view a flow chart to help determine the required steps in this article from the May issue of Texas REALTOR® magazine.
You need to quit saying ¨represent both parties¨ You can´t do that. You can work w/ both parties. To quote one past TAR lawyer: Intermediary is a legal fiction. Attorneys may not represent both parties and TREC needs to outlaw Intermediary. Intermediary was invented so that the brokerage can keep both sides of the transaction in house. There are several states that do not permit intermediary or dual agency. I do not permit intermediary in my office. I will let a buyer know that, even though it will cost me half the commission, if the buyer wants representation, he needs… Read more »
Mike McEwen, well said. Intermediary has created some of the issues in our industry, including distrust.
Very well said, Mike. I have never double sided my listings; I tell the seller at the listing appointment that I refer sign calls to another agent because it is impossible to “represent” both sides and if I were to do that, I would not be allowed to give them advice and consultation, so why would they pay for something they’re not getting? I also wish that TREC would make it mandator for every client to have their own agent , although I am okay with it being another agent in my office.
Mandatory? You can’t force someone to use a realtor if they don’t want to.
In addition, helping a buyer who doesn’t want to use a realtor to purchase your listing is perfectly fine, you aren’t “representing” the buyer when doing so.
Agreed
Mike, that may be a wise choice if you are a 1-man brokerage, but banning all Intermediary relationships is not the answer for agents who are part of larger brokerages. The broker I am with has about 15% of our market. That would be AGAINST my clients’ best interest for me to say I won’t do business with another agent in the same company. I have worked deals with other agents under my brokerage whom I have never met. Anything my client shares with me stays with me and I have NO obligation to share any private information with my… Read more »
Very well said. Our job is to do the best for our client. If their dream house is with the same brokerage then your not doing what’s best for your client. Unless you don’t trust yourself to be honest, but that’s more of a you thing
Being trained at KW we were not allowed to “double” side a transaction. With over 400 agents in our office we could do intermediary but not for ourselves. Went to Re/Max who doubled all the time; they thought nothing of it. So my current brokerage does not allow “double” sided transaction; they will do intermediary with 2 agents but not with one. I do show my listings because I do want them shown but my first conversation with the “lookers” is an explanation of representation and say my brokerage will not allow me to handle both sides because I have… Read more »
This is NOT true, maybe only true for your office. When I was at KW, we had a specific form advising any buyers that refused to be represented by another realtor of the fact that we as listing agents were NOT representing them in the transaction as a client.
I think you need to be careful calling out RE/MAX, or any other brand. Each office is independently owned & operated, so that may just be the attitude of a local office in your market. As a RE/MAX Broker, I resent you saying that “they thought nothing of it”, and lumping all of us into one category. I think in the future people should be careful about naming any brand in their comments.
Did they correct it because I don’t see “represent both parties” written anywhere.
I totally agree
Spot on Mike. I agree. Get rid of it.
You need to quit saying represent! You cannot represent both parties. To quote a prior TAR lawyer, “That is a legal fiction.” Attorneys may not represent both parties. Intermediary is a total dumbing down of agency and TREC needs to have the guts to outlaw intermediary. You may legally work w/ both parties but you may not act as a fiduciary for both parties.
No one is saying one agent can “represent” both parties. Your understanding of Intermediary is flawed, you cannot have an intermediary unless BOTH parties are represented.
I think some of you are missing a key factor in this conversation. The Broker owns the buyer’s representation and the listing agreement that the agents in their office have entered. So anytime any agent under the same Broker represents the buyer and the seller, regardless if it is one or two agents, you are subject to an intermediary relationship. Your Broker can chose to appoint or not appoint an agent to each party. Or they can do as mentioned above send the buyer to another brokerage and avoid intermediary completely. So to say “It’s OK if its another agent… Read more »