Q. What is single agency?

A. Single agents can represent either buyers or sellers. The Buyer’s Agent, an exclusive buyer brokerage franchise, represents only buyers. Price Club Realty, the discount brokerage firm affiliated with Price Club/ Costco, represents only sellers. These two companies are examples of exclusive single agency.

The current working definition of “single agency,” however, includes agents that represent either buyers or sellers, but not both, in a single transaction.

Purists dispute the notion that a firm that represents both buyers and sellers, but not both, in a single transaction. Purists dispute the notion that a firm that represents both buyers and sellers, even if not in the same transaction, is a single agent. They believe only exclusive single agents can protect their clients.