1. Fair and Honest Treatment
Every agent must provide services honestly, fairly, and in good faith. When answering your questions, every agent must be honest and accurate.

2. Disclosure of Material Adverse Facts
Every agent must disclose material adverse facts that you do not already know or that you cannot discover through vigilant observation. Adverse facts are conditions which significantly and adversely affect the property value, the structure, or the health of the occupants, or information concerning the inability or refusal of a party to carry out the offer. Examples of material adverse facts include a leaky roof or high radon readings, or the fact that a foreclosure sale will prevent the seller from being able to sell.

3. Confidentiality
Every agent must keep confidential any information which you indicate is confidential and any information that the agent knows a reasonable person would want to he kept confidential. When you receive the required agency disclosure statement that the agent must give you before beginning to work with von, you can list the information von consider to the confidential. You can also list information that might be considered confidential but which you are authorizing the agent to disclose. For example, you can permit the agent to reveal information about your financial qualifications to the seller, to encourage the seller to accept your offer to purchase.

4. Provision of Accurate Market Condition Information
You may ask the agent to provide timely and accurate information about market conditions, and every agent must respond with examples of sale prices for comparable properties.

5. Reasonable Skill and Care
Every agent must be knowledgeable concerning real estate laws, public policies, current market conditions, and the physical characteristics of the property being sold. Every agent must use reasonable skill and care when:

• Inspecting properties;
• Preparing and giving a general explanation of the purchase contract and other relevant documents;
• Monitoring deadlines and closing dates;
• Making reasonable efforts to find a property meeting your criteria;
• Recommending that you seek third-part advisers (such as attorneys, accountants, home inspectors, or building contractors) when appropriate.

6. Accounting
Every agent must account for all funds or other things of value received from the parties to the transaction, Funds, such as earnest money or cash advances, are held in the agent’s trust account where they are kept separate from the agent’s money and where separate records are kept for each transaction.

7. Objective Presentation of Offers
Every agent must make an objective and unbiased presentation of all proposals and offers, and indicate the advantages and disadvantages of each.

HOW ARE SELLING AGENTS AND BUYER’S AGENT DIFFERENT?
The first thing to remember is that Wisconsin law does not allow real estate agents to be adversarial for or against the seller or the buyer. They are legally required to treat all parties fairly.

If you work with a selling agent, there is no contract between you and the agent, and you are not the agent’s principal. You will, however, receive a Disclosure of Real Estate Agency form that lists the fair treatment duties owed by all agents to all parties, and which indicates that the selling agent is an owner’s agent. The selling agent will show you properties yon are interested in seeing, get more information about properties of interest, and draft the purchase contract as yon direct. The selling agent must provide you with information about any known or potential property defects, and help identify those situations when yon should consult a professional — such as a home inspector or building contractor — to help yon evaluate a property condition, or an attorney or accountant to advise yon on legal or tax matters.

If you work with a buyer’s agent, you and the buyer’s agent sign a WB-36 Exclusive Buyer Agency Agreement that includes a Disclosure of Real Estate Agency. This disclosure lists the fair treatment duties owed by all agents to all parties and the duties owed to principals or clients, and indicates that the buyer’s agent is the agent of the buyer. You are the buyer’s agent’s principal or client, and the buyer’s agent receives a fee which he or she successfully helps you find a property and negotiate a purchase contract in accordance with you buyer agency agreement. You have the right to negotiate the fee with the buyer’s agent and determine whether the fee is paid by the listing broker, the seller, by you, or by some combination of these. A buyer’s agent helps yon get the best possible price, negotiates for beneficial contract terms, and generally assists you throughout the transaction. A buyer’s agent owes yon the fair treatment duties owed to all parties plus the higher level of agent-client fiduciary duties.

WHAT FIDUCIARY DUTIES DOES A BUYER’S AGENT OWE TO ME IN ADDITION TO THE FAIR TREATMENT OWED TO ALL PARTIES?

1. Loyalty
A buyer’s agent must loyally represent you, avoid all conflicts of interest with you, and put your best interests ahead of the interests of any other party.

2. Disclosure
A buyer’s agent is obligated to make a full, fair and timely disclosure to you of all known facts that are lawfully material to the transaction. A material fact is one that a reasonable person might feel is important in choosing a course of action. Examples of material facts are:

• The existence of other offers;
• The reason the seller is selling, provided the seller permits this information to be shared with others and does not require it to he kept confidential.

3. Obedience
The agent must carry out the obligations stated in the WB-36 Buyer Agency Agreement and must obey all of your lawful orders which relate to the agent’s duties as stated in that contract. For example, the agent must order a survey or appraisal on your behalf if yon ask him or her to do so, provided this function lies within the scope of the buyer agency contract. However, an agent may not violate the law — he or she may not refuse to show you a property owned by a member of a minority group, for example.

WHAT ARE THE ADVANTAGES OF WORKING WITH A BUYER’S AGENT?
Despite what some people may think, being a buyer’s agent doesn’t mean that he or she will rush in and hammer the seller into submission. The buyer’s agent works for the interests of the buyer, but also must know how to work with the listing agent so that the seller sells and the buyer buys. Acting in an adversarial manner is not the most effective way to represent a buyer. Only a buyer’s agent can:

• Give a negative opinion or critique of a seller’s property beyond disclosing defects;
• Recommend or suggest an uttering price, or give you an opinion about whether a particular house is priced too high or low;
• Structure the offer and draft offer provisions with the buyer’s best interests in mind;
• Recommend and assist the buyer with negotiation strategies for the best price and terms;
• Disclose all information and research about a property’s history and liens so the buyer can make an informed decision. The level of additional investigation and research that a buyer’s agent may conduct for a buyer may vary from agent to agent;
• Give advice within the scope of the agent’s expertise as a licensed real estate agent.

WHAT IS MULTIPLE REPRESENTATION?
Multiple representation exists when one real estate company represents both the seller and the buyer as clients in the same transaction. This means that one agent from a real estate company will be the listing agent, working for the seller as the client, and another agent from the same real estate company will be the buyer’s agent, working for the buyer as a client. Under these circumstances, it is impossible for the company to provide full client-level services and complete loyalty to both buyer and seller. The company and its agents cannot put the interests of one client ahead of the interests of another client involved in the same transaction. In a multiple representation, the real estate company and its agents assume the role of middlemen in negotiations, draft contracts to accomplish the intent of the parties, and present contract proposals in an objective manner. Both the buyer and the seller must agree in writing to this special arrangement.

Not all real estate agents are REALTORS®. A REALTOR® is a real estate agent who has gone beyond the minimum standards required for licensing to become a member of the REALTORS® Association, and has agreed to adhere to the strict Code of Ethics. In addition to the above agent services, a REALTOR® may have access to the Multiple Listing Service. In Wisconsin, the MLS is a valuable marketing tool typically available only through a REALTOR®.
© 2000 WISCONSIN REALTORS® ASSOCIATION Product Code: BRBA