Solutions to Key Buyer Challenges

The solution to the dual agency dilemma is single agency, where the buyer’s broker has a fiduciary responsibility to the buyer only, and not to the seller. By using a buyer’s broker with single agency, the buyer can avoid the potential conflict of interest issues inherent in dual agency and the buyer is assured of having his / her interests prioritized over those of the seller.

With single agency, your real estate agent (licensed business intermediary) can advise you about how much or little to pay, in addition to other issues regarding an offer, which favor you over the seller, because the your agent has a fiduciary duty to you as a the agent's principal and lesser duties to the seller.

The most attractive situation for a buyer is when the seller’s broker shares the total brokerage fee equally with the buyer’s broker. In that event, a buyer could have single-agency representation without being responsible for any fees for representation the single agency buyer’s broker, as those fees would be paid to Business Acquisitions Advisors (BAA) by the listing broker. 

If the listing broker were unwilling to share the brokerage fee equally, then the buyer would be responsible to pay BAA for the difference between the 50.0% of the total brokerage fee and the actual amount paid by listing broker to Business Acquisition Advisors. Buyer would still have the best type of representation, single agency, but be responsible for only a portion of BAA’s representation fee.