It happens all the time: John Q. Buyer isn’t even that serious about buying a home yet, but decides to drop in on an Open House down the street on a whim. Lo and behold, John loves the house and feels it’s perfect for him! Can the Realtor hosting the Open House help him draft up and submit an offer? The answer is a little more complex than most people think.
First, just be aware that the Realtor hosting the Open House may be the Listing Agent, working on behalf of the seller. The Listing Agent’s fiduciary duty is of course to look out for the seller’s best interests (not yours), and try to get as much money for the property as possible. That’s what a good Listing Agent does!
Having only one agent serve both the seller and the buyer at the same time is called “dual representation,” and many states don’t even allow that. Even in states that still do, many brokerages won’t do dual representation simply because it is bad business- the Realtor really can’t serve either side properly at that point. . . all he can do is pass the offers and counter offers back and forth between both parties and offer no advice (otherwise, that would be showing favoritism to one party over the other).
Now here’s where it gets tricky: Let’s say you did not like that particular house, but wanted to look at other homes in the neighborhood and did not yet have a Realtor representing you. In that case, there would be nothing wrong with the Listing Agent offering to help you look for other properties, provided that they are also not her listings. If you take her up on that offer and sign a representation agreement with her, she would then become your Realtor, representing you as a buyer.
Another common scenario would be the Listing Agent gets another agent from his office to host the Open House for him. The hosting agent is technically working for the Listing Agent and trying to sell you that particular property during the Open House event, but if you liked the house, didn’t already have an agent, and decided to submit an offer on that property, after the Open House is over he is free to then represent you as a buyer and write the offer for you, letting the actual Listing Agent go back to representing the seller side.
And now I’ll let you in on a little Realtor secret: That’s the main reason Realtors like to host open house events, and oftentimes offer to host for other agents in their office. Besides the opportunity to find a buyer for that particular home, it’s also a great way of getting future buyer clients for other properties!