Agent or Independent Advisor: Where the Difference Lies

Dual agency

An agent who has listed a property works for the seller. Their mandate is to achieve the best possible price for that seller. When the same agent also "advises" the buyer, they represent both sides of a transaction with opposing interests. That is dual agency.

It is not prohibited in Uruguay. Economically it means nobody at the table represents your interests exclusively.

Why the commission structure decides this

Uruguay's official CIU tariff provides for 3% plus VAT from each party. That is structurally important: there is no single commission pool that must be split. The seller pays their agent; the buyer can pay their own representative.

Clean buyer representation is therefore economically viable without anyone being paid by the opposing side. Whoever advises you should be paid by you, and by nobody else.

What AegisTierra does and does not do

• We list no properties of our own. There is no portfolio we need to move.
• We take no payment from the seller side. No dual agency, no divided loyalty.
• We search across providers. Properties come from several sources, not one.
• We do not provide legal or tax advice. We coordinate vetted Uruguayan specialists who do.

How we are paid

We state this openly, because the answer determines the quality of any advice that follows. AegisTierra charges its client a commission of 3% plus Austrian VAT under an Austrian intermediation agreement. That matches the customary buyer-side rate in Uruguay.

We accept no payment from the seller side or from their agents. The Uruguayan agent who introduced a property is paid by the seller: not by us, and not out of your commission. There is therefore no arrangement in which our fee depends on which property you buy.

The question to ask everyone

Before working with anyone in Uruguay: us included: ask these three questions:

• Who pays you on this transaction?
• Do you hold a seller mandate on this property?
• Will you show me properties you earn nothing on?

The answers tell you more about the quality of the advice that follows than any reference list.

This article is for information purposes only and does not constitute investment, legal or tax advice. AegisTierra does not provide legal or tax advice; it coordinates vetted local specialists.