I have decided to start a list of words and their definitions often used in real estate to educate sellers and buyers,  I am hoping to help everyone when it comes down to understanding what we agents are talking about when reviewing contracts with our clients. Please reach out and let me know if there are any terms you would like me to add to my list.

Agency: a type of relationship where the agent has the authority to represent and act for the consumer in dealing with others. 

Client: the principal who has engaged the real estate professional to provide real estate services to or on behalf of the principal.

Conflict of interest:  a situation where there is a substantial risk that the agent’s representation of a client would be negatively affected by the agent’s own interests or by the agent’s duties to another current client, a former client, or a third party.

Confidential information: any information about a consumer that is not available to the public. This can include the consumer’s finances, personal situation, motivations or needs.

Fiduciary - adjective LAW (as per the Cambridge Dictionary)

relating to the responsibilities of a person or organization that manages property or money belonging to another person or organization:

• fiduciary duties/obligations Management and the board of directors have fiduciary obligations which require that reports be produced in a manner consistent with these obligations.

Fiduciary Duty Pertaining to Real Estate:

This fiduciary duty requires that the agent act in the principal's (client's) best interest at all times. A fiduciary is someone who must maintain high standards of care for an individual's person, property, or finances. Fiduciaries include estate executors, real estate agents, physicians, attorneys, and financial advisors, all of whom are obligated to act in the best interests of their clients.

Non-client/unrepresented party: a party to the trade in real estate who is not a client of a real estate professional. 

Trading Services: means any of the following services provided to or on behalf of a party to a trade in real estate:

(a) advising on the appropriate price for the real estate;
(b) making representations about the real estate;
(c) finding the real estate for a party to acquire;
(d) finding a party to acquire the real estate;
(e) showing the real estate;
(f) negotiating the price of the real estate or the terms of the trade in real estate;
(g) presenting offers to dispose of or acquire the real estate;
(h) receiving deposit money paid in respect of the real estate