The definition of an agent is someone who represents a CLIENT and has a fiduciary obligation to act in the best interest of that client. At one time, residential real estate agents, both listing and selling agents, almost always represented the seller. In recent years the real estate marketplace has changed dramatically and the industry has introduced, in one form or another, the concept of Buyer Agency, Brokers, attorneys, and law-makers all wrestled with the idea of how real estate agents could best serve their respective clients. Many new terms were born to straighten out the confusion. In some states the term agent was eliminated and replaced by facilitator.

The most common agency relationships are
1. Single Agency'agent represents buyer OR seller, and 2. Dual Agency'agent represents both buyer and seller in the same transaction. In the state of Nevada, a buyer, by law, must sign a document called the 'Duties Owed' before he or she signs a purchase agreement. The Duties Owed sets out the obligation of the agent to the party he/she is representing and the buyer must acknowledge whether his/her agent is acting as a single or dual agent. The buyer must have an awareness of and must acknowledge in writing not only his agent's obligation, but also the obligation of any other real estate agent involved in the sale.
For example:
Agent A represents buyer Brown in the purchase of a home. Agent Z, the listing agent, represents seller Smith. Brown must acknowledge that Agent A is his agent and that Z is Smith's agent. (Smith must also make the same acknowledgement, but we won't go into that here because we are talking about buyers.) If agent A is the listing agent as well as the selling agent and is working for both parties, both Brown and Smith must acknowledge her(or him) as a dual agent.

At one time the dual agency extended to the Broker if the agents involved worked in the same company, but in Nevada that is no longer the case.

A point to remember is that who the agent represents is not determined by who pays the brokerage fee. In the Las Vegas area it is still customary for sellers and builders to pay the agent who brings the buyer. In the future, however, buyers may decide that they get the best representation when they hire an agent to find the best property for their needs, and pay them for doing so.

For more information please contact me at susanmorrow@homesvegas.com