What occurs when a buyer customer is shown a property without formal representation?

When a buyer customer is shown a property without formal representation, it is not classified as sub-agency. Sub-agency refers to a situation where an agent who is employed by a principal (the seller) also engages another agent to assist in selling the property, thereby creating an agency relationship with the buyer without the buyer's own agent. In this scenario, the buyer does not have formal representation from an agent that would obligate the agent to work in the buyer's best interest.

The situation described indicates that the buyer is a customer rather than a client, which means they have not entered into a formal agency relationship with the agent showing them the property. Without such a relationship, the agent is not obligated to owe fiduciary duties to the buyer customer, thus removing the concept of sub-agency from the equation.

While some may consider this practice common, the absence of an agreement formalizes the lack of agency duties owed to the buyer. Therefore, the correct understanding is that showing a property to a buyer customer without formal representation does not amount to sub-agency and is simply a part of the broader real estate practice.