U.S. Sprint studied the home purchases of relocating employees and it found that those who worked with traditional real estate agents ended up paying about 5 per cent more than those who used Buyer Agents. On a $250,000 house, that's $12,500 of the Buyer's money wasted.

As you might expect, many traditional real estate agents don't like the idea of a Buyers Agent fighting for a lower price. But the trend toward equal representation is proving unstoppable. Consumer advocates ( including Money Magazine, The National Home Buying Institute, and syndicated real estate columnist Robert Bruss) have gone on record urging consumers to seek Buyer Representation in purchasing a home.

As more Buyers wise up, many large brokerages are attempting to jump on the bandwagon by "designating" one agent within the firm to represent the seller and another to represent the Buyer. Or, the agent sitting at the open house or who's number you call on the "for sale" sign may offer to act as your " Dual Agent". That's a serious problem for you the Buyer when you are interested in one of the company's or listing agent's properties.

The brokerage firm (and listing agent) is already under contract to the seller to get the highest price on the best terms for the seller. Regardless of the agent's "designation", the responsible party, the broker, remains a Dual Agent, obligated to the seller, yet trying to represent the Buyer, in effect working both sides of the fence and creating enormous potential for conflict of interest. By definition in a dual agency situation, neither side is fully represented and the risk increases with the size of the firm.

This means the only way for you the Buyer to ensure you'll have a crack at every house available that meets your needs AND have an advocate all the way through the deal, is to work with an agent that only represents Buyers. Many listing agents do a good job for the sellers, I am dedicated to doing a great job for my Buyers."

In short...ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. The details of the costs and charges a homeowner agrees to pay are normally set at the outset in their listing agreement with the listing real estate agency. It is here that the commissions, etc., are established no matter who sells the property, the listing agent, another agent in their firm, an outside agent, or a Buyers Agent that exclusively represents the Buyer in the transaction.