Peakonehomes Weblog For Summit County Colorado Real Estate

The Colorado Association of Realtors has gone to great lengths to ensure that there is a high standard of practice in the buying and selling of real estate in Colorado.  This blog will deal with rules and regulations for real estate transactions in the state.  Some issues will be well known and widely understood by some, while other issues may come as a surprise to most.  And still others are comon sense yet seldom adhered to.  The point is to educate the public on laws versus customs, rules versus ethical standards, and common sense versus common mistakes.

Please take a moment to read through some agency definitions that may differ from your state of residence.  These differing types of agency are somewhat unique to Colorado though other states are starting to adopt some type of transaction brokerage as well.

Seller’s Agent: A seller’s agent works solely on behalf of the seller to promote the interests of the seller with the utmost good faith, loyalty and fidelity. The agent negotiates on behalf of and acts as an advocate for the seller. The seller’s agent must disclose to potential buyers all adverse material facts actually known by the seller’s agent about the property. A separate written listing agreement is required which sets forth the duties and obligations of the broker and the seller.

Buyer’s Agent: A buyer’s agent works solely on behalf of the buyer to promote the interests of the buyer with the utmost good faith, loyalty and fidelity. The agent negotiates on behalf of and acts as an advocate for the buyer. The buyer’s agent must disclose to potential sellers all adverse material facts actually known by the buyer’s agent, including the buyer’s financial ability to perform the terms of the transaction and, if a residential property, whether the buyer intends to occupy the property. A separate written buyer agency agreement is required which sets forth the duties and obligations of the broker and the buyer.

Transaction-Broker: A transaction-broker assists the buyer or seller or both throughout a real estate transaction by performing terms of any written or oral agreement, fully informing the parties, presenting all offers and assisting the parties with any contracts, including the closing of the transaction, without being an agent or advocate for any of the parties. A transaction-broker must use reasonable skill and care in the performance of any oral or written agreement, and must make the same disclosures as agents about all adverse material facts actually known by the transaction-broker concerning a property or a buyer’s financial ability to perform the terms of a transaction and, if a residential property, whether the buyer intends to occupy the property. No written agreement is required.

Customer: A customer is a party to a real estate transaction with whom the broker has no brokerage relationship because such party has not engaged or employed the broker, either as the party’s agent or as the party’s transaction-broker.