No one is saying dual agents are evil or subhuman. The problem is the opposite. Dual agents fall prey to the same temptations any of us would. And all of us, whether we know it, are influenced by self-interest.

Put yourself in a dual agent’s shoes. You’re working with a young couple and you have two homes under serious consideration. By all objective measures—asking price, square footage, neighborhood, vintage, proximity to schools, etc.—the houses are comparable.

Comparable, that is, except for one detail. The first home is listed with your agency and the second is not. If the couple buys the second home, you and the listing agency split the commission, with each typically getting usually three-and-a-half percent of the purchase price. The first home, however, would net your agency the full seven percent.

Who wouldn’t, subconsciously or otherwise, find a reason to prefer the house that would double his or her income?

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