The real estate industry is more than 100 years old, going back to the late 1800s. Thousands of terms have been invented to describe the different players in the process since that time.
With so many new terms to understand, you may have trouble navigating them all. For example, what is a seller's agent vs. buyer's agent? And what role do they play in the process of buying and selling a home?
In this guide, we want to help illuminate the differences between these terms. Next, discover what seller's agents and buyer's agents do, related terms to know, and the biggest distinctions between these two types of real estate professionals.
What Is a Seller's Agent?
A seller's agent is also known as a listing agent because they work with homeowners who want to sell their homes. Their goal is to get homeowners the best price for their homes.
Seller's agents often work for repeat clients. For example, they may help a client sell their first home. If they do a good job, that client may come back to the agent when they're ready to sell subsequent properties.
What Is a Seller's Agent's Role in Real Estate?
A seller's agent's role in real estate is to find their client the best price for their home. The seller's agent's responsibilities may include but are not limited to the following:
- Helping sellers come up with the right price for their homes to ensure the property sells fast
- Providing an initial walk-through and suggestions on upping the home's value
- Referring sellers to contractors who can perform needed renovations or repairs
- Staging properties or referring clients to professional stagers
- Hiring professional photographers, putting out 'For Sale' signs, and performing other marketing tasks
- Listing the home on a real estate website like Hommati
- Hosting open house tours, inspections, and appraisals
- Vetting prospective buyers (e.g., finding out if they have a mortgage pre-approval letter)
- Negotiating contingencies with prospective buyers
- Coordinating communications between buyers and sellers, as well as title and loan officers
- Finalizing the closing process
When the deal on the seller's home closes, the listing agent gets to take a cut of the sale. Most seller's agents earn 2.5% to 3.5% commission of the sale of a residential property.
What's the Difference Between Seller's and Listing Agents?
There is no difference between a seller's agent and a listing agent. These are two terms for the same type of real estate professional- those who help homeowners market and sell their homes.
What Is the Difference Between Seller's and Selling Agents?
The difference between a seller's agent and a selling agent is that seller's agents work for homeowners looking to list their homes. Meanwhile, selling agents work for people looking to buy a new home.
A selling agent is also known as a buyer's agent. Learn more about the role and duties of a buyer's agent next.
What Is a Buyer's Agent?
Buyer's agents are real estate professionals who help people looking to buy a new home. Their goal is to locate properties for prospective home buyers and initiate the buying process.
Buyer's agents represent all types of buyers. They may help a first-time buyer navigate the process of finding their dream starter home. Or they may help property investors source dozens of properties for a real estate portfolio.
Confusingly, buyer's agents are also known as selling agents, but only when the home goes under contract. That's because they source the home buyer and help 'sell' the home.
What Is a Buyer's Agent's Role in Real Estate?
A buyer's agent's role in real estate is to represent the financial interests of home buyers. Their responsibilities may include but are not limited to the following:
- Referring buyers to mortgage lenders
- Assisting clients with getting pre-approved for loans
- Locating properties that meet their clients' buying criteria
- Identifying listed, contracted, and recently sold homes to help clients set realistic criteria
- Making appointments for private home tours
- Advising clients on potential home resale values
- Helping buyers evaluate a home's real value against its list price
These are not all the tasks a buyer's agent may complete. Once their client agrees to contract the home, the buyer's agent is known as a selling agent and has new responsibilities to take care of.
What's the Difference Between Buyer's and Selling Agents?
The difference between a buyer's agent and a selling agent is very nuanced. Technically, both titles refer to the same real estate professional- the agent who helps prospective home buyers find and purchase a property.
However, a buyer's agent can only be referred to as a selling agent if and when their client finds a home, and it goes under contract. Then, the selling agent's responsibilities are to:
- Help buyers understand what contingencies to ask for
- Give references for home inspectors
- Attend inspections and appraisals
- Negotiate any inspection issues that may arise
- Coordinate communication between sellers and buyers and lending and title officers
- Assist with the closing process
Once the sale of the home closes, the selling agent can collect a fee. The commission is typically 2.5% to 3.5% of the sale.
What's the Difference Between Buyer's and Listing Agents?
The difference between a buyer's agent and a listing agent (also known as a seller's agent) comes down to the client.
Listing agents work with homeowners who want to sell their homes. Buyer's agents help prospective home buyers find and close on homes.
What Is a Dual Agent?
In some states, seller's agents can also represent prospective home buyers. This practice is known as dual agency. Dual agency is illegal in Alaska, Colorado, Florida, Kansas, Maryland, Texas, Vermont, and Wyoming.
The reason why dual agency is illegal in these states is because lawmakers see it as a conflict of interest. After all, how can a dual agent get a seller the best price while also getting the buyer a good deal on a home?
Comparing Seller's Agents vs. Buyer's Agents
Now that you understand what seller's agents and buyer's agents are let's compare and contrast the two. These real estate professionals differ and are similar in terms of their clients, goals, commission structures, and responsibilities.
Clients
Seller's agents represent sellers, or current homeowners who want to sell their properties. On the other hand, buyer's agents represent prospective home buyers, or individuals and families looking for a new home.
Goals
Seller's agents have a fiduciary responsibility to their clients. In other words, their goal is to help homeowners sell their properties for the highest price in the least amount of time.
Buyer's agents similarly have a fiduciary responsibility to their clients. Their goal is to help prospective home buyers find the most valuable properties that meet the client's criteria.
Commissions
Seller's and buyer's agents may earn the same amount in commission. Typically, the commission on a home is 5% to 6%, which the two agents then split equally between themselves.
The difference is how these commissions are paid out. Sellers typically pay this commission fee from the money they receive from the sale of their home. So, the total commission fee on a $500,000 home might be $25,000 to $30,000.
The seller will then pay the seller's agent directly from these proceeds. Alternatively, the seller may pay the agent's brokerage, and the brokerage will pay the seller's agent their commission.
The buyer's agent is paid by the seller's agent or the brokerage the seller's agent works for.
Responsibilities
Buyer's and seller's agents collaborate on many of the same tasks. They both attend home inspections and appraisals and coordinate communication between buyers, sellers, and other interested parties.
One of the biggest differences in buyer's vs. seller's agents' responsibilities is their role in home viewings.
Though both professionals may attend open houses and private home tours, it is the buyer's agent's responsibility to find these viewings. Seller's agents only have to create the listing and host the viewing.
Additionally, home buyers typically attend property viewings with their agents. On the other hand, the seller's agent can stand in for their client, so homeowners need not attend viewings and tours.
Do You Really Need a Real Estate Agent?
No, you don't technically need a real estate agent. It is perfectly legal to nix the seller's agent and list your property "for sale by owner." Similarly, house hunters do not need to work with a buyer's agent to close on a home.
Many sellers, in particular, believe that avoiding agents is worth it because they don't have to pay the commission fee. However, professional agents are invaluable players in the listing process, making their fees more than worth it.
Thinking of Buying or Selling?
Comparing seller's agents vs. buyer's agents comes down to who these professionals work for. Seller's agents work for home sellers, while buyer's agents represent home buyers.
Are you gearing up to buy or sell your home? Hommati makes it easy to search for homes, find agents, try virtual staging, and discover your home's value with the click of a button.
Use our convenient online realtor search to find a highly-rated buyer's or seller's agent near you today!