Agreeing · Answer
Can one agent represent both of us when we sell?
The short answer
Yes. When you sell the house together, the two of you are one seller, and one listing agent works for that seller. Under ORS 696.805 a seller's agent owes the seller care, loyalty, an accounting and timely disclosure of conflicts. I work for the sale and give both of you the same information. I don't take sides between you.
- 01
You are one seller
When a married couple owns a home and sells it, the seller is both of you together. You're not two clients with competing deals. You're co-owners selling one house to one buyer, and the listing agent's job is to get that sale done well. That's the structure I work in for every divorce sale, and it's why I can represent you both without picking a favorite. Each of you signs as an owner, each of you sees every offer and each of you can ask me anything, but my job is one job: selling the house you own together for the best result the market will give.
- 02
What the law requires
ORS 696.805 spells out what a seller's agent owes. To the seller, that includes reasonable care, loyalty, an accounting for money and property, timely disclosure of any conflict of interest, and advising the seller to get expert advice where it's needed. To everyone in the deal, including the buyer, a seller's agent owes honesty, good faith, timely presentation of written offers and disclosure of material facts the agent knows. Confidential information stays confidential even after the agency ends.
That duty to advise expert help is one I use often. Legal questions go to your attorneys. Tax questions go to your CPA. I'm neither. When a question lands in that territory, I'll tell both of you it's outside my lane and suggest you each ask your own advisor.
- 03
Where conflicts show up
The trouble spots are predictable. One of you may want to buy the other out instead of selling, or you may disagree about a price or an offer. When your interests split like that, I tell you both, in writing, as soon as I see it. I won't advise one of you on how to get a better deal from the other, and I won't argue one spouse's position to the other.
If one of you decides to buy the house, I'd talk with both of you right away about whether I can keep working on it, and that conversation happens with both of you present. You can read more about how I set this up on the neutral sale page, and about what I do with private comments in will the agent tell my spouse what I say.
Sources · checked 23 Oct 2026
Confidential consult
Your situation, specifically.
Tell me where things stand. I’ll tell you what the sale could look like for your situation, and what to ask your attorney first.