How a Real Estate Agent or Agency Works in North Carolina

In Western North Carolina, there are 3 primary ways a real estate agent can represent a buyer or seller in a transaction. These are Seller’s Agent, Buyer’s Agent, and Dual Agent.

Seller’s Agent

The seller’s agent, or listing agent, is just that. He or she works for the seller and is trying to sell the listed property. Frequently, buyers call seller’s agents to show them a house. This is perfectly fine and quite common, but keep in mind the seller’s agent’s loyalty is to the seller, unless you choose to hire the listing agent as a dual agent (more on that later).

If you’re a seller, your agent is required to do the following:

promote your best interests
be loyal to you
follow your lawful instructions
provide you with all material facts that could influence your decisions
use reasonable skill, care and diligence
account for all monies they handle for you.

Buyer’s Agent

A buyer’s agent works exclusively for the buyer. In the Asheville market, a buyer’s agent will be able to represent a buyer on any property listed in the MLS, even if it is listed by another agent or real estate firm. When a buyer’s agent represents only the buyer, the agent must:

promote your best interests
be loyal to you
follow your lawful instructions
provide you with all material facts that could influence your decisions
use reasonable skill, care and diligence
account for all monies they handle for you.

Buyers and buyer’s agents may work together with an oral agency agreement. However, the agency agreement must be in writing by the time an offer is made on a property.

Dual Real Estate Agent

It is common in our market for an agent to represent both buyer and seller in the same transaction. This is called dual agency. Dual agency occurs if the listing belongs to the buyer’s agent or the buyer’s agent’s firm. If the buyer’s agent’s firm has a lot of listings, there is a very good chance that dual agency will take place.

A dual agent must disclose material facts about a property but is prohibited from disclosing confidential information about one party to the other.

In my experience, the dual agency often makes the transaction go smoothly, as there is one less level of communication involved in the sale. But the dual agent must be careful to keep certain information confidential. Usually, this type of information involves a party’s motivation to buy or sell. For example, the seller may tell the agent that even though the house is listed for $500,000, a price of $475,000 would be acceptable. Unless the seller gives the agent permission to share this information, it must remain confidential. On the flip side, if the buyer offered $475,000 but said they would pay list price if they had to in order to get the house, this would also be considered confidential information.

The Agent’s Compensation

This is a separate topic, but worth mentioning. In almost every case of a sale of a property listed in MLS, the commission for both agents is paid by the seller. It is taken out of the seller’s proceeds at closing. But to be sure, the commission amount (and who pays it) is spelled out in writing in the listing agreement and buyer’s agent agreement.