We had lunch recently with two of our favourite REALTORS. Although they work out of a different brokerage we often work together on some problem solving issues. Both of them were noticing a disturbing trend… Some agents (who for whatever reason don’t want to do their job) are coaching their clients to call the buyer's agents directly for feedback after showings. It is standard practice to leave a business card behind when you show a home so the owners know you were there, and in some cases the home owners are contacting buyer's agent of their own accord.
The buyer's agent shouldn't have direct conversations with the home owner even if the agent you hire to help you sell your home says it's ok. Some call it tampering, some call it interference – whatever you call it, it's not in the seller's best interest. Remeber, the buyer's agent works for the buyer, and has to disclose any relevant information to their client. In a number of these cases the sellers were asking the buyer's representative if the commission they were offering them was appropriate. They definitely can not discuss that with you. You and your representaive should have sat down and worked that out, or at least discussed that when you were deciding your marketing strategies.
In one case the seller was offering suggestions of prices they would accept and extra commissions they would offer if the agent brought them an offer. That seller was basically telling the buyer's representative that they were desperate. She definitely didn’t do herself any favors, as the amount that an interested buyer would offer would surely drop significantly upon learning this.
The buyer's representative may even have a listing in competition with yours, and could use the information you offer them to help out their other clients. All in all you have to remember your representitive owes you fiduciary duties (full disclosure, confidentiality, reasonable care and skill, loyalty, obey instructions, full accounting) but they don't owe those duties to people who are not their clients.
