The so-called buyer's agent

Buyer's agents are extremely uncommon in Auckland compared to countries like Australia and America. In my 7.5-year career in real estate so far, I've only acted as a buyer's agent once. By that, I mean I've had a fully signed agency agreement with the buyer and received payment from them, not the seller. It was enjoyable because my role was to secure the best deal for the buyer, not the seller.

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Recently, I came across a social media post by a real estate salesperson/agent from a different company, celebrating a sale they closed for their buyer. They highlighted their strong negotiation skills and how they saved the buyer a significant amount below the property's market value. Several of their colleagues, including the company's principal, congratulated them on the post.

Based on my understanding, this sale was a typical conjunctional sale facilitated by the listing agent. A conjunctional sale, as defined on www.rea.govt.nz, involves "the listing agent and the agent that introduced the buyer both working for the seller. They negotiate to share the commission paid by the seller." In other words, while you might bring the buyer into the transaction, your primary obligation remains with the sellers.

Unless I've misunderstood the situation and this agent indeed entered into an agency agreement with the buyer and received their commission from the buyer, they may have violated their code of conduct. I hope the listing agent eventually becomes aware of this. If I were the listing agent, I would advise my seller to consider taking legal action against them. The fundamental rule that your loyalty lies with the party who compensates you appears to be common sense, but some of my colleagues in the industry seem to overlook it.

My team and I rarely engage in conjunctional sales in terms of introducing buyers to listings from other agents. We are listing salespersons/agents, which means our primary responsibility is to effectively market and sell the properties entrusted to us by our sellers, not properties listed by other agents. However, when we do get involved, we always remain mindful of which party we represent.