Sellers And Buyers Can Go One-On-One

The notion that there can be contact between buyer and seller during the transaction.

In the 1980s, when I bought my first two houses, the agents tended to act as intermediaries between the two parties until the day of settlement.

Frankly, they discouraged contact.

When I sold my house in 2001, I was actually encouraged by my agent to talk with the buyers on two occasions -- both long before settlement day.

Why all the openness all of a sudden?

There are two reasons. One is the advent of buyer agency.

Before buyer agency came along, the real estate agent represented the seller exclusively. Even if the listing agent and your agent were two different people, their job was to make sure that the seller was happy.

Too many buyers didn't get it, and felt betrayed when something went wrong, either during the transaction or after settlement.

My father was a real estate broker. While he was a nice guy, he never for a moment permitted buyers to believe that he represented them, no matter how sorry he felt for them.

That doesn't mean he didn't try to ease the transaction for the buyers. It's just that when push came to shove, you were absolutely certain whose side he was on.

That was the 1960s, and it was a different world.

What is buyer agency?

Simply this. By law in dozens of states, a real estate agent is required to disclose whom he or she represents in the transaction.

If you are the buyer, then the agent represents you. If you are the seller, then the listing agent is required to disclose that he or she works for you.

I won't get into dual or transaction agency for the purposes of this column.

Because the buyer's agent is working for the buyer, he or she is trying to get the best deal through negotiation.

The buyer's agent doesn't care whether the seller is uncomfortable -- that's the listing agent's problem. So if Henry and Sarah Buyer want to know things about the house, and the only way is by face-to-face discussion with the seller, then so be it.

After all, what are the seller and his or her agent trying to hide?

We get, therefore, to the second reason for the new openness: sellers' disclosure.

Such disclosures of defects are required by law in a number of states, and are required by many real estate brokerages in states in which disclosure laws have been passed but remain under review.

"Seller disclosure makes the difference," said Noelle Barbone, a Realtor in Philadelphia’s Pennsylvania suburbs (Pennsylvania has a seller disclosure law). "If all the buyers and sellers are aboveboard, the relationship can be healthy. The breakdown comes when the sellers are less than truthful."

Truthfulness avoids lawsuits, and "you have to understand that most people sue because they want to defend their integrity," Barbone said. "If the sellers have been up front and have nothing to hide, there should be no reason not to be in contact directly with the buyers."

All this openness still comes as a shock if you aren't used to it. But it can clear up questions that your agents didn't even consider.

One question I fielded was how long the fireplace in the living room had been closed up.

Actually, there never was a fireplace there. We had a great-looking mantel that we had bought from a salvage place. It was in a spot where one would expect to see a fireplace.

However, when the house was built in the early 20th century, fireplaces were being shunned in favor of state-of-the art coal-burning furnaces.

With so many other problems to tackle -- kitchen, rotting back porch, massive rewiring, two bathrooms, peeling paint, and the like -- a fireplace was right below central air-conditioning on the to-do list.

Should you be wary of a seller who won't talk?

Not necessarily. For example, some sellers, especially older ones, are so attached to their houses that they get too emotional and don't want to show them.

But if a seller doesn't want to talk to you directly, make sure your agent and the seller's answer all your questions.