From: Al Klein 
Newsgroups: alt.invest.real-estate
Subject: Re: If a real estate agent can find profitable properties for you, why can't he/she just buy them and make profit for him/herself?
Date: Sun, 13 Jul 2003 19:25:22 GMT

On Sun, 13 Jul 2003 07:27:25 GMT, "Baird Spalding"
 posted in alt.invest.real-estate:

>On 12-Jul-2003, Al Klein  wrote:

>> 1) The agent has a fiduciary responsibility (enforceable by law) to
>> get the best price available for the seller.  This means "as much as
>> the market will bear".

>That doesn't hold true when an agent buys directly from a seller. Once he
>discloses that he's an agent, the seller is at arms length and is fair game.
>Right?

Not the way the courts see it.  The agent is a professional, so he's
held to a higher standard.  I've seen sales quashed by the court when
the seller found out, after the sale, that he could have gotten a
higher price from a "civilian" buyer.

If you disclose that you'll buy it immediately for $X, while the
seller might get $X + $Y if he's willing to wait a few months
(whatever the then-current market is), the court might look at it
differently.

But I wouldn't want to be the agent about whom everyone says "I would
have gotten more if he hadn't stolen it from me."  I can't shave
without looking in the mirror.