The Discount Companies A new way of listing has emerged lately, with certain so-called "discount" companies offering to list homes on the MLS (and usually including exposure on REALTOR.com) for an up-front flat fee.  Unlike other companies, they do not wait for the house to sell to get paid. They usually ask the seller to handle the showings and pay a lower fee than is typical to any buyer´s agent who brings them a buyer.  Many Sellers are not aware that some agents will not show such listings, both because the fee is lower and because the companies do not spend the time and energy to get the deals negotiated to closing.  The jury is still out on whether this system serves a niche market and will survive. Agency Law While real estate sales practices over the years developed along the lines of making the listings more informative and more available to the public, another area of real estate became murkier-whose interests the agents represented during the process.  Outside the real estate world, agency law was quite clear-an agent owed duties of loyalty, obedience, protection from harm, confidentiality, full disclosure and accountability of funds.  Other occupations operated under this system without problems.  But in real estate, agents were trying to get deals done under the system they had-- the lines of responsibility and loyalty were blurred even where all parties had the best intentions.  It was not until the late 1980´s that the commonly-understood concept of agency was applied to the sale of real estate in Pennsylvania. And it was not until 1998 that agents in Pennsylvania had to disclose to the buyers and sellers whose interests they were representing in a transaction.