Potential Conflicts in “Traditional” Real Estate Brokerage

In “Traditional” brokerage, agents and brokerage companies represent buyers, tenants, sellers, and landlords, although seldom does a single agent represent both sides of a transaction.  Many of the conflicts described below are disclosed, although some generally are not.  Disclosure, however doesn’t mean the conflicts are not there.

Conflicts can range from obvious to subtle:

• The agent owns the space
• The more you pay the greater the agent’s compensation
• The agent is only showing space on which he can earn a commission
• The agent is also listing agent for the space
• The agent also is the property manager.
• The agent’s company owns or manages the space
• The agent’s company holds the listing on the space
• A company related to or owned by the agent’s company owns or manages the space or manages an investment fund that owns the space
• The agent both lists and sells/leases; may not be as aggressive since he may be looking for future listings
• The agent’s company both lists and sells/leases and may discourage agent’s aggressive tenant representation to avoid antagonizing potential listors