In most U.S. states, a real estate agent can legally represent both the buyer and seller in a transaction — an act called “dual agency” in the industry.
For agents, it’s a big win. They don’t have to split commissions with anyone, and they can likely keep haggling to a minimum, thanks to their existing relationship with both parties.
For sellers, though, the arrangement can be costly. In fact, a new analysis from Zillow shows that home sellers have lost a collective $1.5 billion over the last three years due to dual agency alone. If you throw in “private” listings, which often involve dual agents — or a similar arrangement — too, then it’s another $1.36 billion.
Home sellers lose out in dual agency arrangements
In a dual agency situation, “the agent’s economic incentives can shift,” Zillow says.
In a traditional sale, the seller’s agent agrees to a commission with their client. Then, when a buyer comes in, they split that commission with that buyer’s agent. In many cases, the commission is somewhere around 5 to 6% of the sale price, so each agent, in this arrangement, would get between 2.5% and 3% each.
When that second agent is removed from the equation, the seller’s agent gets the full commission to themselves — and that can be a big deal. On a $403,200 home (the current median sale price in the U.S.), that would be the difference between about a $12,000 commission and a $24,000 one.
“The additional commission earned from pushing a seller’s price up is generally modest, while the potential cost of selling to a different buyer and splitting a commission with another agent is significant,” Zillow found. “That dynamic can incentivize certain agents to close a deal with a buyer they represent rather than negotiate hard for the maximum sale price.”
All in all, dual agency equates to a loss of about $2,165 per home seller, Zillow found. Nationwide, it has lost sellers a combined $1.49 billion in just the last three years (over $533 million of that was in California, and another $217 in Florida.) About 5% of all real estate transactions involve dual agents.
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“Private” listings kill seller profits, too
Zillow also looked at “private” listings — those not put on Multiple Listing Service platforms — and the impact they have on sellers.
These are homes that are marketed privately and offline. They only appear on MLS sites after a purchase contract is already in place, and they’re common in dual-agency situations. In some cases, they may involve two agents employed by the same brokerage.
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According to Zillow, private listings cost sellers a collective $1.36 billion over the last three years and usually sell for 1.3% less than publicly listed homes. On a median-priced home, that’s over $5,200.
“Neither finding appears to be a short-term anomaly,” Zillow says. “Both price penalties existed in the data for all the study years of 2023, 2024, and 2025. That persistence is notable given that rising inventory over the study period has given buyers more options and made bidding wars less common — conditions that would be expected to narrow the off-MLS penalty, in particular.”