Minnie Bannister wrote:

Nevertheless, unless you appoint the realtor as "buyer's agent" (and
agrees to pay his/her commission if it cannot be collected from the
listing agent), "your" realtor is really acting as sub-agent to the
listing agent and cannot give you independent advice.


As stated, varies by state. Here in Colorado, sub-agency is not legal
anymore (as of 1/1/03), so your agent is either a buyers agent, or
"transaction broker" (independent, no fiduciary duty to buyer OR
seller).

That is my understanding, based on our recent purchase of a property in
Michigan (it could vary from State to State). And no, we did not pay
"our" realtor any commission: he collected from the listing agent.

Technically, I bet that YOU asked the listing agent to pay him. Check
your buyers agency contract, it probably says something (in legalese)
to the effect of "The buyer is responsible for paying the agent's
commission. However, we're going to ask everyone under the sun to
foot the cost, including the seller and the listing agent."



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