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PaperclipPerfector  2yr ago (text post)   3582 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for March 31, 2024

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There has been some discussion (1 2) of how the lawsuit recently lost/settled by the US's National Association of Realtors may affect real-estate transactions in that country. But what about the rest of the world? It would be nice if some of the goshdarned furriner varmints that frequent this forum could relate their own experiences with buyer's-agent-free real-estate transactions, so that we uncultured USAians know what to expect in the coming years. For example, are these articles from Britain (1 2) and Australia (1 2) accurate?

"the seller's agent" (in theory both parties' agent)

This practice, called "dual agency", is outright illegal in several US states due to the conflict of interest.

The operative word there is ”theory”. No buyer expects the real estate agent to be impartial beyond handling the official stuff properly. You can hire an agent (who obviously works for you) when buying a house but it’s rare.

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