When you first meet an Alaskan real estate licensee, unless it's in a casual setting like an open house or a cocktail party, the licensee should hand you an "Alaska Real Estate Commission Consumer Pamphlet" to read and sign, disclosing the nature of the relationship between you and the licensee. Is the licensee representing you, or is she offering what statutory language calls "specific assistance"? In either case, the licensee has basic duties, such as honesty and fairness.
If the choice is representation, there are additional duties, all specified on the disclosure form - things like confidentiality, disclosure of conflicts of interests, loyalty, and making a good faith effort to accomplish your real estate goals. If you're serious about accomplishing those goals, you probably want someone to represent you. That way any confidential information, such as how much you COULD pay for a property, isn't shared with other clients to your potential detriment.
If you're selling your house, you'd be (in my opinion) foolish to opt for any choice other than representation. But what if your listing licensee has buyers she's representing who want to see and potentially buy your home? Sounds like a no-brainer. Of course you want everyone to be clamoring for a look. But wait - your licensee also represents the buyers. Now what?
One option is to preauthorize, for those specific situations only, a neutral relationship. Oddly, the set of duties for a neutral relationship is virtually the same as for representation. But no one pretends that the licensee is representing both sets of interests. Instead, she's required to remain neutral, while continuing loyalty, confidentiality and such to both parties.
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