Thanks everyone for your response. Unfortunately, I’ve already signed the realtor agreement. I understood going into this process that a buyers interests aren’t always aligned with his/her agent, but this is one angle I never considered.
In a normal market the chances of this occuring is probably slim, but with so many buyers chasing a small inventory of homes it seems this could become more common. Either way, a buyers agent should disclose when they are bidding on the same home for more than one client. This way, the buyer can evaluate if their interests are being well served.
For example, are you getting the first look at a home that just gets listed, or does your realtor give preferential treatment to clients they think will submit the strongest offer? If you have information that would make the home more desirable, do you share it with your realtor? What if they transfer this information to another buyer they think will submit a stronger offer? What if you find a home that’s not yet listed but will be coming on the market soon. Do you share this with your realtor who may provide this information to another buyer?
So if the temptation for a buyers agent is to maximize their chance of winning a bid using their existing pool of buyers, the risk is that preferential treatment will be given to the client(s) that are most aggressive on price. Not a great deal if your a PIG, and may be a reason not to be completely honest with your realtor about your price sensitivity or any “non-public” information you may have on a particular home.
