Agent Loyalties and
Disclosures
You're
buying a home.
Does your real estate
agent truly work for you?
In the past,
home buyers often
assumed their real estate agent worked on their behalf. After all,
the agent showed them
lots of properties,
called regularly to
tell them about new listings,
wrote the offer to
purchase,
and answered questions about
mortgages
and other issues
related to the sale.
Buyers felt free to
give confidential information
to an agent, unaware
that it was the agent's duty to pass that information on to the seller.
Today,
many states have
enacted laws to help protect and educate buyers. Most real estate agents are
required to
disclose whom they work
for.
The disclosure may
take place during a phone call, by e-mail, or at your first face-to-face meeting
,
but it should always be made
before a real estate agent asks for specific information about your needs.
