[quote=njtosd]With respect to my posts, your comparison is off the mark. My argument has never been that a single agent representing both buyer and seller is better or worse than each having their own. The data that I would be interested in (let’s say for 92130) is a comparison of sales where agents were involved on both sides to those where one or both parties were represented by an attorney or represented themselves. My guess is that it’s a hard comparison to make, because most of the time agents are involved on both sides.[/quote]
That is not a real distinction.
Almost never does a side go unrepresented.
Most people who think that they are unrepresented, have the listing agent on as “selling agent” (which means buyers agent).
The fact that they are unaware of this is an unpleasant example of the extreme informational disparity.
As far as attorneys, that is even more rare (like less than 1%).
The only real distinction (for statistical purposes) is between transactions where buyer and seller each have their own (distinct) agents and those that do not.
Personal story:
I have an listing that has gotten 7 offers in the last week (9457 Ronda) and today I got a call from a guy who says he is a buyer and wants to meet me in my office to write up an offer. I don’t know this guy. However here is the drill I expect to go through. He will either tell me that he will represent himself or that I can double end. He may ask for a buyer rebate.
Here is what I will do:
I will advise him he can have a rebate from me if its on a different property. If its my listing he wants, I will call another agent whom I trust to be ethical and honest (not a long list). I will probably refuse to write the offer for him if he insists on being unrepresented. If he pushes it then I will give him a blank piece of paper and ask him to write it himself.
