To start off, I'm giving my agent the benefit of the doubt, but I am interested if there is any issue here from other real estate professionals.

We are signed with a listing agent that specializes in a very narrow pocket of homes. We've been working with her for about 6 weeks now and look at just about everything in our small window that is available regardless of size and cost for potential renovation or move-in ready. We signed with her because she lives in the neighborhood and we were told she would have the inside scoop on everything.

Recently, we mentioned a home to her that some friends of ours in the neighborhood told us about that would be coming to market soon. After we told her the location her comment was something similar to she knew which one we were talking about and would reach out.

A few days later she lets us know that she spoke with the owners with the predication that she had buyers interested and told us a few details about the place followed by that she would be back there the following day to interview for the listing (and she was selected).

That didn't strike me as odd initially, but as I was playing around with some floor plans I started to ponder about whether that was ethical behavior or not. I don't know for a fact that she did not know about the potential listing before we mentioned it to her but if she did, she wasn't doing what we hired her for by letting us know about any potential upcoming properties. There was already another property that she has listed that she didn't notify us about ahead of time with the excuse that it was listed above our ideal budget.

From a RE agent standpoint, is there anything wrong with that sequence of events? I don't necessarily care that she is guaranteeing herself fee by listing the home as we would just use a family friend that isn't focused on our area if we decide to offer, it just feels slightly odd at this point.

In your second paragraph, do you mean that you are signed with a Buyer's agent?

This situation happens quite often for realtors that are neighborhood specialists. I understand where you are coming from, but on the other side, if a neighborhood specialist realtor didn't pursue prospective listings because they also rep a prospective buyer for the same house, their pool of listings would be slim to none. This same trait is also what sellers look for when picking a listing agent, someone one knows buyers or reps buyers in the market. Realistically what should happen is you should get a shot at buying the home before it hits the market, and your realtor should classify it as an intermediary transaction (if they end up getting he listing).

Taco, are you in Houston?

Useful information:

Consumer Guide: REALTORS' Duty to Put Client Interests Above Their Own

Yes, my mistake.

Understood, Rusty, which is why I'm not particularly offended.

I'm more upset with my agent if she knew this was an upcoming opportunity and she didn't mention it until we asked her to pursue it.

To be fair, she has shared some minor details and is working to get us a walk through 10-15 days before it lists as well as sending over some photos shortly. There has been no discussion of an off market transaction yet.

I am not, I am in the Austin area.

For fun, I pasted the above post into an LLM before I posted and was provided with excerpts from the NAR. The summary response was that there is nothing technically wrong with what transpired but that the RE should be focusing on their clients interest above and beyond their own.

THIS.

What happens if you are really interested in the property, but want an agent that is representing only your interests (you don't want an intermediary)? Interested to see what others think the realtor does at that point.

should have been covered in the buyer's rep agreement.

the buyer should absolutely have the right to find their own rep if it ended up being an intermediary situation.

Which UnlockMLS form did you sign Aggietaco? The short form without an intermediary? This is the one I usually have my clients fill out. If not, it looks like you may be stuck with her as she'll use her brokerage as the intermediary. You could also ask to be released from the agreement if you are not comfortable working with an intermediary.