What a $1.49 Billion Study Reveals About Who Your Agent Really Works For

When you hire an agent to sell your home, you assume one thing above all else: that person is in your corner. A new study suggests that assumption is worth real money — and that some sellers are quietly losing it without ever realizing.

In May 2026, Zillow released an analysis of more than 15 million home transactions from 2023 through 2025. The findings are blunt. When the same agent represents both the buyer and the seller — a setup known as dual agency — sellers lost an estimated $2,165 per home on average, adding up to roughly $1.49 billion over three years. Homes marketed quietly off the MLS as private listings told a similar story: they sold for about 1.3% less than comparable homes listed publicly, a typical loss of around $4,230 per home and $1.36 billion in total.

The most telling detail isn't any single number. It's the consistency. The penalty showed up in every year studied — boom or cooldown, hot market or buyer's market. That's not a quirk of timing. That's a pattern.

The mechanics behind the money

Neither of these practices is illegal, and dual agency is permitted in North Carolina with proper written consent. So why would they cost a seller anything?

It comes down to incentives, and the math is simpler than it looks.

When one agent — or one brokerage — sits on both sides of a deal, that agent has a financial reason to keep the transaction in-house rather than push hard for the highest possible price. Negotiating an extra $10,000 for the seller only nudges a single commission upward by a few hundred dollars. But closing the deal with a buyer the same agent already controls can mean capturing both sides of the commission. Those two goals don't always point in the same direction, and the data suggests that when they conflict, the seller's wallet is what gives.

Private, off-MLS listings work on a related principle: exposure. A home that never reaches the full pool of buyers on the Multiple Listing Service simply has fewer people competing for it. Fewer eyes, fewer offers, less upward pressure on price. The “discreet, exclusive” pitch sounds appealing, but the study indicates it tends to leave money on the table — and quietly removes opportunities from buyers who never knew the home existed.

What this means if you're selling in North Carolina

You don't need to memorize Zillow's methodology. You need to ask better questions before you sign anything.

In North Carolina, agency relationships are spelled out in the Working With Real Estate Agents Disclosure you receive early in the process, and dual agency can only happen if you agree to it in writing. That's your leverage. Before you list:

• Ask directly how your agent handles dual agency. A straight answer matters more than a polished one.
• Insist on full MLS exposure unless you have a specific, well-reasoned exception. “Coming soon” marketing can build buzz; permanently hiding your home from the market is a different decision with a measurable cost.
• Understand who benefits if your buyer comes from inside the same brokerage. If keeping the deal in-house pays your agent more, you deserve to know that going in.

None of this means a careful, fully disclosed arrangement can never serve you. It means the default should be representation that answers to you alone — and any deviation should be your informed choice, not a quiet convenience for someone else.

What this means if you're buying

Buyers think these findings don't apply to them. They do — just from the other side of the table.

When a listing agent also “represents” you as the buyer, the person negotiating the price down for you is the same person who promised to negotiate it up for the seller. That's not advocacy. That's a referee playing for both teams. And private listings cut buyers out entirely: you can do everything right — get pre-approved, stay ready, move fast — and still never see a home because it sold before it ever reached the MLS.

The fix is the same on both sides of the deal: have someone whose only job is to protect your interests.

How we structure representation at Citadel Cofield

This is the part of the study that doesn't surprise me, because it's the reason this brokerage is built the way it is.

Our promise — Your Fortress. Our Foundation. — isn't a tagline about decor. It's a statement about whose side we're on. When we represent you, we represent you: not the other party, not a quota, not a strategy that earns us more by serving you less. We market listings for maximum exposure because the data and plain logic both say competition raises price. We negotiate as a single-side advocate because divided loyalty has a number attached to it now, and that number isn't small.

If a situation ever arises where a dual-agency or in-house arrangement might genuinely make sense for you, you'll hear it laid out plainly — the tradeoffs, the alternatives, and our honest recommendation — so the choice stays yours.

A home sale is often the largest financial transaction of a person's life. You deserve an advocate who treats it that way, with no question about whose interests come first.

Carnarri Cofield is the Broker-Owner of Citadel Cofield, serving buyers and sellers across North Carolina and South Carolina. Thinking about buying or selling and want representation that answers only to you? Reach out for a no-pressure conversation.