Garfield & Hecht

I. Brokerage Relationships.

You will likely work with a real estate agent to find and purchase your new property. Colorado law provides two different brokerage relationships for the buyer:

A. Seller's Agent.

A Seller's Agent (or Listing Agent) is a broker who represents only the seller in a real estate transaction. A Seller's Agent owes certain fiduciary, disclosure and confidentiality duties to the seller. Traditionally, agents in a transaction were Seller's Agents. However, Colorado law now allows other agency relationships that are more beneficial to buyers.

B. Buyer's Agent.

A Buyer's Agent is a broker who represents only the buyer and owes certain fiduciary, disclosure and confidentiality obligations to the buyer. However, the Buyer's Agent is usually paid by the seller. This is the agency relationship that is most beneficial to you as a buyer, but some brokers are unwilling to act as a Buyer's Agent without some commitment or consideration from the buyer. Also, a broker cannot act as a Buyer's Agent with respect to any property for which the broker is also the listing agent.

C. Transaction Broker.

A Transaction Broker is a deal maker without being an agent or advocate for any of the parties involved and owes few duties to either the buyer or the seller. A real estate broker is presumed to be a Transaction Broker unless another agency relationship is established through a written agreement. Therefore, we recommend that you establish, in writing, another more beneficial brokerage relationship with your agent (i.e., a Buyer's Agent relationship). However, you should not let the legal relationship with your broker stand in the way of a good buying opportunity.