Maybe Subagency Isn’t So Crazy After All
So… Rob Hahn stirred the pot again. In his recent piece, A Modest Proposal: Bring Back Subagency, Rob suggests we ditch buyer agency and go back to the “good old days” where everyone worked for the seller—and he makes the case better than I expected.
Now, to be clear, I like buyer agency. I believe buyers deserve representation. It makes sense. It’s better for consumers when each party has an advocate, especially in a transaction as complicated and emotionally loaded as buying a home. But here’s the thing—and Rob says it plainly—most agents simply don’t understand what fiduciary duty actually means. And I’ve seen it too. I’ve coached agents for years and even the ones who mean well often don’t grasp the full weight of what fiduciary responsibility entails.
That’s part of why Rob’s argument caught my attention.
He makes the case that buyer agency didn’t come about as some noble crusade for consumer protection. It came about because brokers were getting sued. Buyers were under the impression the agent helping them worked for them—when legally, those agents were subagents of the listing broker, and thus, owed loyalty to the seller. Lawsuits piled up. So instead of simply disclosing who we work for, the industry manufactured buyer agency as a solution to that PR and legal mess.
But now we’re back in a mess again. The NAR settlement, the commission lawsuits, the mandatory buyer agency agreements… and here comes my buddy Darrell—who’s been in real estate longer than some agents have been alive—telling me, “We should just go back to subagency.” At first, I laughed it off. But now, after watching how convoluted and awkward some of these buyer-agent conversations have become post-settlement, I’m not so sure he’s wrong.
Subagency is not inherently bad. Like anything else, it depends on how it’s handled. With full disclosure—clear, honest communication to the buyer that the agent is working for the seller—there’s no deception. And it avoids the messiness of pretending we’re acting as fiduciaries for buyers when, frankly, many agents are acting more like salespeople than true client advocates anyway.
That’s Rob’s core point, and it’s hard to argue with: “Agency is a big deal,” he says. “Being a fiduciary is no joke.” And we’re asking a whole lot from people who took an 80-hour class and passed a multiple-choice test. Agents aren’t doctors or lawyers. They’re businesspeople. So maybe it’s time we stop pretending they’re something else.
Some media, like HousingWire, push back and say that abandoning buyer agency would hurt consumers, especially first-time and lower-income buyers. I get that. It’s a legitimate concern. We don’t want to go back to a system where buyers feel like they’re flying blind. But let’s not forget: buyers didn’t have real representation until the ’90s, and they still managed to buy homes. It wasn’t ideal, but it wasn’t chaos either. And today, we’ve got better disclosure laws, more consumer awareness, and a digital trail of every step.
Plus, under the new rules, agents are already required to get signed agreements before showing homes. If buyers are reluctant to sign, some agents are already opting to just show the property as the seller’s representative—not unlike a subagent. So, in a way, we’re already drifting in that direction whether we admit it or not.
Now, I’m not saying we should scrap buyer agency across the board. But I do think we need to be honest about what it actually is—and isn’t—in practice. Rob’s suggestion isn’t that subagency is perfect. It’s that maybe it’s a more honest reflection of how this business often works.
At the very least, we ought to be open to letting buyers choose. If they want a true advocate, they can hire one and pay for it directly. If not, they can work with someone who’s transparent about their role and compensation. And we as an industry need to stop hiding behind vague relationships and start embracing real clarity, whichever model we use.
In short, Rob’s not nuts. Subagency, with full transparency, might not be a step backward—it might just be a step toward more honest real estate.