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Real estate question...wierd question inside

L

leeland

Diamond Member
My wife and I are selling ourhome on our own through a FSBO website. I had a Realtor contact me about showing a client a private showing. They came to our home and I heard nothing really from the Realtor.

A day later I get contacted (via the FSBO site) by the person she showed the house to saying he doesn't want to use the Realtor for negotiations and wants to deal directly with me since it is a FSBO and he probably thinks he can get a better price.

I had asked if he had a buyers agreement with this person and he said no...that he had NO contract, just was shown some properties by the Realtor.

We do have an MLS contract that states any Realtor that brings a 'client' to our home and it goes to sale we would be responsible for 2% commission.

Since this person is saying they have no ties with the Realtor are we any way liable to pay that commission to the Realtor?

Thanks for any input
 
being you both knew they had a realtor you could be held liable for the commission.

This is a common tactic and would be best handled by asking a local attorney what the local rules are.

For most you will find this is much akin to those that think if they mail the keys to their home via certified mail and the bank opens it, they are released from their mortgage.
 
Stay far from that, deal with the realtor.

The person has nothing to lose by using the realtor, as they arent paying them.
 
that is exactly what I thought.


I called our MLS lister and explained the above story...

He confirmed that we have no real play outside of paying the real estate agent which is what I thought but needed it explained to me...in a different version...

It doesn't matter if he didn't sign a contract with his agent...what matters is WE signed a contract (which I knew already) that said we would pay x% for a sale.

The whole thing caught me off guard and I didn't know how to play it out between this guy and the Realtor who contacted me.


My plan is to call the Realtor and let her know what is going on and assure her that if things move forward to the point of sale that we would pay her...and just be honest with her...

My HOPE is that she is cool with this and doesn't fly off the handle and potentially scare this guy off...but I guess that is a risk I am going to have to take..
 
leeland said:
My plan is to call the Realtor and let her know what is going on and assure her that if things move forward to the point of sale that we would pay her...and just be honest with her...

My HOPE is that she is cool with this and doesn't fly off the handle and potentially scare this guy off...but I guess that is a risk I am going to have to take..
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Is it a risk you are going to HAVE TO take? Doesn't it make the most sense to contact the buyer and tell them that regardless of whether they want to utilize the realtor or not, you have already have an agreement with them. You know that you are responsible for the fee and you're not going to even try to circumvent it.

Call me crazy, but why would you want to go right to the realtor and explain that her clients are trying to avoid paying the commission? You then run the risk of the realtor reacting in any number of ways that wouldn't be helpful and I don't see there being any potential benefit to you. If anything, you might want to contact the realtor and ask them to clarify what the commission/fee would be to ensure that it matches the 2% you believe it should be.
 
Why the heck would you tell the realtor anything at this point? If there's a sale, you pay them the 2% commission. If not, you don't. Why go tattle now, it's none of your business.....
 
What if the realtor wants 5% and the buyer doesn't seem to want her involved.
 
Taughnter said:
Is it a risk you are going to HAVE TO take? Doesn't it make the most sense to contact the buyer and tell them that regardless of whether they want to utilize the realtor or not, you have already have an agreement with them. You know that you are responsible for the fee and you're not going to even try to circumvent it.

Call me crazy, but why would you want to go right to the realtor and explain that her clients are trying to avoid paying the commission? You then run the risk of the realtor reacting in any number of ways that wouldn't be helpful and I don't see there being any potential benefit to you. If anything, you might want to contact the realtor and ask them to clarify what the commission/fee would be to ensure that it matches the 2% you believe it should be.
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Agreed. The realtor does not need to know now. You contract states you will pay them, not update them on what their customer is doing.
 
thepd7 said:
Agreed. The realtor does not need to know now. You contract states you will pay them, not update them on what their customer is doing.
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cause when they can't get much of a better deal without the realter cause the OP must still take into account the 2% he's losing it could get messy.
 
lupi said:
cause when they can't get much of a better deal without the realter cause the OP must still take into account the 2% he's losing it could get messy.
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This is my stance...

say I don't go and contact the realtor and I let it play out and for sake of argument I get this guy to make an offer and we go back and forth.

It fizzles out and then he pulls in the Realtor again...you can't tell me she isn't going to know something has been done outside of her.

To me it just makes it a mess sneaking around dealing with someone who is willing to go outside of rules of the contract.

All the Realtor would have to do is follow the eventual paper trail and we would wind up having to pay anyways. I would rather be up front about it with her and see where we stand.

Also, what is to say that this guy isn't doing the same on other houses and we could just be dropped all together.

We committed to the payment of 2 percent commission so regardless what the potential buyer thinks we are liable for that payment with or without the Realtor involvement.

I believe (not 100% sure) that if she is in play that she can handle the paperwork and we wouldn't have to hire a lawyer.

If we did it without the Realtor and hired a lawyer...we would eventually have to pay her too and be our even more money on the expenses...

Am I not seeing this clearly? It is Friday and I shut my brain off around noon 🙂


speg said:
What if the realtor wants 5% and the buyer doesn't seem to want her involved.
Click to expand...

The contract states that we are liable for 2%...if in the event the realtor comes back and says she wants x% more that I guess would have to be negotiated but I don't know if we would be willing to budge at the moment
 
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leeland said:
We do have an MLS contract that states any Realtor that brings a 'client' to our home and it goes to sale we would be responsible for 2% commission

Thanks for any input
Click to expand...

This sounds clear cut to me. You would have an obligation to pay the Realtor 2% if a sale was consumated with that individual. I don't see how it could be any clearer.
 
Yep, just because the buyer decides he/she/they don't want to use that realtor, if they buy the house, the realtor has earned the commission.

I'd call them and let them know that the buyer has contacted you and what they're wanting to do.
 
BoomerD said:
Yep, just because the buyer decides he/she/they don't want to use that realtor, if they buy the house, the realtor has earned the commission.

I'd call them and let them know that the buyer has contacted you and what they're wanting to do.
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After saying it out loud previously and having the MLS lister describe the steps yes it made it totally clear...

I talked to the Realtor just a bit ago and it can work this way...I have to pay 2% (that is obvious)...

However since this guy doesn't want to use her or at least for now doesn't want to use her he can choose to go on his own and do all the work and be free and clear.

if he chooses to use her he has to pay (unless we say we would) the additional buyers agent cost commission (an additional 2-5%).

She was totally cool with the conversation and understood the whole deal.

I DID NOT mention to her that he contacted me directly (after reading some of the replies it didn't make sense at the moment)

I will let it play out and see what happens I guess.

Thanks for all who replied
 
Hell yeah go behind the realtor's back.

It's not your concern. If the realtor is not part of the negotiations and is not at the closing, you owe him nothing.

You have no proof that they have an agreement.
 
Oh...yes...I see what you mean. I agree which is why I didn't want to get in the middle of it.

When it boils down to it...it is either going to fizzle out or this guy will be serious...I think now that the Realtor that showed the home and myself are on the 'same page' at least will help mitigate any potential issues.

And I will go on record to say that I hate the games that get played when selling a home between the Realtor / Buyer / Seller...

This is our first time trying to sell...we had an agent for about 7 months and that didn't go anywhere...so we went off on our own. The stories our previous agent told me regarding the games get played between the buyer and the seller and the agent pisses me off...even in tonights example regarding what the Realtor who I talked to was planning on doing...it was almost like scare tactics and intimidation.

I did write the guy back telling him to stop by our open house if he was interested in discussing things...so we will see.

I am sure the majority of Realtors don't do things like I heard...but man some of the bullshit games that get played makes me sick!
 
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edro said:
Hell yeah go behind the realtor's back.

It's not your concern. If the realtor is not part of the negotiations and is not at the closing, you owe him nothing.

You have no proof that they have an agreement.
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If the realtor made the introduction then s/he is due a commission.

As for your bottom line, as the OP stated he does in fact have an agreement to pay a commission. All the realtor has to "prove" is that s/he made the introduction, which isn't exactly difficult. In fact the only way there could possibly be a dispute is if the OP decided to actively lie about the whole situation. Maybe that's the way you do business, but that's not the way most people operate.
 
leeland said:
if he chooses to use her he has to pay (unless we say we would) the additional buyers agent cost commission (an additional 2-5%).
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The 2% you agreed to pay is the buyers agent commission. There is no seller's agent commission, the agent isn't representing the seller. The agent is either confused, or trying to rip you off.
 
arkcom said:
The 2% you agreed to pay is the buyers agent commission. There is no seller's agent commission, the agent isn't representing the seller. The agent is either confused, or trying to rip you off.
Click to expand...


Yes I understand that (Now)...the verbiage is what got me previously. We COULD offer to pay the buyers agent commission (money additional paid I think from the buyers perspective) if we were inclined but we aren't at this point. I think the 'potential buyer' wants to avoid that cost which I didn't totally understand previously but makes sense now after talking to the Realtor.

He would be on the hook initially if he obtained her services....not us....

Mike Gayner said:
If the realtor made the introduction then s/he is due a commission.

As for your bottom line, as the OP stated he does in fact have an agreement to pay a commission. All the realtor has to "prove" is that s/he made the introduction, which isn't exactly difficult. In fact the only way there could possibly be a dispute is if the OP decided to actively lie about the whole situation. Maybe that's the way you do business, but that's not the way most people operate.
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We don't do business that way which I thought I previously stated but will restate for the record...

In the long run it wouldn't be worth it and eventually would have to pay anyways. I think people should get paid for their work (Realtor). With the market is crappy as it is right now it doesn't pay to be a turd and try to fuck someone over.
 
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