The Buyer and Goddin Real Estate.

Real estate licensees in North Carolina work as agents for their respective principals, be they buyers or sellers. Agency implies a fiduciary duty by the agent to his principal. North Carolina Real Estate Commission rules require that agents provide prospective clients and customers with the brochure "Working with Real Estate Agents" upon initial substantive contact, and disclose their agency status. It is important for buyers and sellers of real estate to understand the agency status and function of the real estate agents with whom they have dealings. You will want to share certain types of information only to agents working on your behalf.

North Carolina also recognizes and allows dual agency and designated agency concepts which allow agents or companies to work with agency relationships involving both the buyer and the seller.

An agent is responsible for protecting and promoting the interests of his client, but only to the extent that he does not violate law or rules set forth by the NC Real Estate Commission. Agents have an obligation of fairness and honesty to parties in a transaction that they do not represent as an agent. Buyers dealing with seller's agents and sellers with buyer's agents can expect that agent to treat them fairly and honestly, but need to understand that the agents fiduciary responsibilities lie elsewhere, and act accordingly.
 

Agency agreements between agents and sellers are typically called listing agreements, and must be in writing to be enforceable in North Carolina. The agreement will state the price and terms the seller is willing to accept, the length of the agreement, the total commission the seller will pay, and whether the agent may share that commission with other agents as buyers or sellers agents, along with other provisions. Properties listed with companies belonging to a multiple listing service are then typically placed in the service's data base, with a commission offered to agents who bring a buyer for the property.

Real estate agents may work as buyer's agents without a written agency agreement, up to the point of the buyer making an offer on a property, at which point the agency relationship must be established in writing. The agency agreement establishes the compensation of the agent, although agents typically accept the amount of compensation offered by sellers agent on listed properties.