In the previous post, I explained that agents are people hired to act on the behalf of another person and that all agents have a duty to act in the best interests of that other person.
A real estate agent is a type of agent; specifically, an agent who deals in real estate. A realtor is a person registered with the Canadian Real Estate Association. All realtors may work as real estate agents. That said, realtors don’t always serve their customers as agents.
Occasionally, people hire a realtor in limited-service engagements. In those cases, the realtor might just provide guidance, or might simply list the property on the MLS. However, in most cases, when a person hires a realtor, the realtor serves as her agent in the sale, or purchase, of real estate.
In the context of a full-service engagement, the answer to our question ‘what must realtors do’ is entailed by the duty of agents to act in the best interest of the client.
It seems to me that for an agent to act in the best interest of the client, the agent must do what they believe will bring about the best outcome for the client. So it follows that a realtor must do what they believe will bring about the best outcome for clients with respect to the relevant real estate trade.
Of course, everything realtors do in order to bring about those outcomes for their clients must accord with ethics and the law.
