1. Confidentiality: As a buyer’s agent, I am obligated to keep any and all information about you, as a client buyer, confidential. You have a right to this confidentiality, as would a patient when confiding in a doctor. Lets say when I am presenting an offer on a property that you want very badly, the seller turns to me and asks why you want this particular house. I know that by disclosing that information, the seller’s negotiating position will be strengthened and disclosing that information will weaken yours. Under the guiding rules of confidentiality, I must not disclose your motivation for wanting the house.

2. Disclosure: It is one thing to keep information private, it is quite another to be obligated to disclose all you know. In the above example, if you are a customer and not a client (under agency contract) then I am not a buyer’s agent, but a seller’s agent. Any and all information I know about you as a buyer I must share with the seller. For example, I must tell the seller how much you are willing to pay for the house and all other relevant information I have about you as a buyer.

3. Counseling: Another benefit to you when using the services of a real estate professional, is the advice that professionals can give. As a buyer’s agent, it is my obligation to provide you, my client, with advice that will best suit your needs. However, remember that without having formed a buyer agency relationship in writing, I will be deemed to be a sub agent to the listing broker of the home you will eventually buy. That means I have no obligation whatsoever to counsel you as a buyer in any way. My obligation to counsel has been transferred to the seller of the property that you as a buyer customer (not under contract) eventually buy.