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Agent Conflict of Interest? Agent is the Buyer

We went with an experienced agent for selling a home, and have a few offers so far. Up to this point we've been satisfied with her service. We were close to deciding to on an offer when we got an unexpected offer: it was from our agent and her daughter, and they were represented by another family member.

Not having much experience in real estate, I'm not sure if this is common enough to be acceptable, but it has made me very worried about the whole thing. It's one thing for an agent to represent both buyer and seller, but it's another thing entirely for your own agent, the buyer, and the buyer's agent to be from the same family. Part of the service that an agent provides for the laity is a sense of protection in a high-stakes market, and we're now feeling like no one's on our side.

This has us questioning the whole process. Our agent originally encouraged us to set a low price to attract buyers who would then bid up. Now their offer is better than others, but still slightly lower than what we originally had in mind. If they had been planning to make an offer from the beginning, doesn't that give our agent the incentive to not find the highest offers? How are we supposed to have our agent make a counteroffer with herself? What if there are complications during or after the sale?

I'm willing to entertain the possibility that I'm being too paranoid, especially if someone in the real estate industry can tell me something that I'm not seeing. Also, their offer isn't bad - it's basically in line with what we expected. The whole thing just feels very sketchy, and I'm currently at a loss for what we should do.

submitted by /u/morrowman
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source https://www.reddit.com/r/RealEstate/comments/1dgby7f/agent_conflict_of_interest_agent_is_the_buyer/
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