The more I read Redfin, the more I agree with much of what they say
At Redfin, we’ve long been opposed to dual agency, where the same agent represents both seller and buyer. This hasn’t always been an easy call because in some ways it’s more efficient. But it’s hard to represent both sides in a negotiation simultaneously, and the big problem is that it encourages the listing agent to market the property selectively to his own clients rather than broadly, to every possible buyer.
All the games that agents play with inventory were supposed to end now that that the DoJ settlement with the Realtors is being enforced. The settlement requires listing agents to publish to the web all the information about a listing that could be disclosed to a client in person. The loophole in the settlement is that the listing agent can require other brokers’ websites to register users before showing the listing, and to validate their email address.
In Long Island, where dual agency is common, a whopping two thirds of all listings on the market now require Internet visitors to register before seeing the address. The form New York agents use to list properties online includes a field indicating whether the address can be displayed without registration; for 66% of listings, the agent requires registration, overriding the default.
Free display of information, no dual agency, advocating for the consumer ... Redfin's ahead of the curve (and many Realtors are way behind).
I'm curious how they came to the conclusion that "dual agency is common" in Long Island.
