My impression from the article was that the sellers didn't have independent agents. They were approached by the buyer's agent when not even listing their house.
Definitely seems that the buyers agent offered to also act as the seller's agent and probably threw in a "we can reduce our commissions if we are on both sides of the deal" type of offer.
I had my own experience buying my first home, the new construction condo agent told me that I didn't have to have a buyer's agent and could just deal with them but the more I did my research the more I realized that my agent would be legally required to represent my best interests and could do a better job advising me on a process that might seem intimidating to a first time buyer.
I can understand why some of these sellers said "YES!" when someone knocks on their door and offers them cash that's equivalent to a lifetime's worth of savings but there is some fault to be assigned to seller's who don't do their due diligence. If someone says they'll pay cash right away to you, you have to think that perhaps you should see if there are other buyers in the market.
I had my own experience buying my first home, the new construction condo agent told me that I didn't have to have a buyer's agent and could just deal with them but the more I did my research the more I realized that my agent would be legally required to represent my best interests and could do a better job advising me on a process that might seem intimidating to a first time buyer.
I can understand why some of these sellers said "YES!" when someone knocks on their door and offers them cash that's equivalent to a lifetime's worth of savings but there is some fault to be assigned to seller's who don't do their due diligence. If someone says they'll pay cash right away to you, you have to think that perhaps you should see if there are other buyers in the market.