A tale from Burlington

I was sitting in the Great Hall of Knowledge, AKA The Burlington Public Library, drinking my cup of Mt. Dew, when I came across something peculiar in my reading. The writer was talking about how both, the Selling Agent (Buyer's Agent) and the Listing Agent (Seller's Agent) work for the Seller and that you the Buyer should not trust your own Agent! 'No! No! No!' I screamed! How can the author be writing these untruths! Well it turns out that author was from the 'other Washington' as in Washington D.C.

On a side note, when I was in the Army and people would ask me where I was from, they always assume I was talking about Washington D.C., Washington State was the 'other Washington'.

Getting back on topic...

This reminded me of when I was just a 'nugget' in this industry...I was taking my clients around Skagit County, showing them homes in Mt. Vernon and Burlington. We were at a house around Clear Lake, when they excused themselves for a private meeting. It turns out that they thought I was working for the Seller and didn't want me to hear what the max price they were willing to offer. It was my fault, I didn't explain to them that the laws have changed since they last bought a home.

You see for many years, both agents did work for the Sellers, and Buyers were unaware of this. It wasn't until 1 Jan 97 that Chapter 18.86 RCW Real estate brokerage relationships went into effect, that this was changed. I can only speak for Washington State, but in WA, the Buyer's Agent does not work for the Seller. Our duties are to the Buyer(s) alone. Unless of course your Agent is a Dual Agent, but that is for another blog...