Posted by TKP, Houston on November 16, 2002 at 24:54:40:
Zack, You are right that it is illegal to pay a commission to somebody without a licence. However, there is one major exception. An agent may pay a rebate (share of the commission)to a principal in the transaction. If you are the buyer or seller your agent can split his/her commission with you. Many agents here in Houston have told me that they have never heard about this rule. Some of them probably did not know, and some of them are just unwilling to share. You certainly have to ask to receive. TKP, Houston
Posted by Dave (CA) on November 14, 2002 at 13:50:13:
Hi,
The Market I work in is heavily used by agents. There are not many FSBO. Is it ok for me to call a seller and make an offer to him if he has listed his house with an agent?
Can I go around the agent and make an offer or does it have to go through the agent. If so, how am i to present to L/O offer to the seller?
Does the seller have legal contract with the agent that he has to uphold?
Thanks,
Dave
I recently made a bid on a place to the seller’s realtor, and was told that he had negotiated a commission with the buyer (6%) and, despite the fact that I did not have an agent, he was not going to budge on his 6%!!! He is going to keep the 3% owed to the nonexistant buyers agent!
The realtor deserves to be paid for their time, effort, and the money they spent on advertising. I would guess you found the house from some form of advertising the agent did(e.g. sign in the front yard). And if that’s not how you found the house, just remember that one day you may come across another deal the agent is involved in. And I can guarantee that agent will remeber you. Keep in mind this business is about building relationships.
Posted by Stu-Canada on November 14, 2002 at 15:05:07:
Dave, the agent will have to be included in the deal if it is listed, but there are at least three things to consider…
If you present your own offer and represent yourslef you should be able to ge the price down 3% (the commission owed to selling rep.)
The sales rep has to present any offer you make on the property, including L/O’s. You may try to find a way to compensate the realtor for the loss of commission on a sale (note for 3% maybe) but any and ‘every’ offer must be presented. If you think the rep may not give your offer much credibility you also have the right to be at the meeting when the rep presents the offer so you can explain your offer. Put this in writing on the L/O.
3)How long has it been on the market? Most areas have ‘typical’ lengths of time regarding listing agreements. If this is the case where you are find out when the listing will expire and be there ready to approach the vendor. **Be careful though, here (in Canada) there is a period of 90 days following a listing agreement where if a purchaser that the sales rep had “introduced the property to” buys the home then the rep can collect the commissions he would have received.
Posted by Sean(CA) on November 14, 2002 at 14:08:13:
When a seller chooses to sell a home through a Realtor he signs a listing agreement with the sales agent’s broker. Depending on what that Agreement says, any of a number of things can happen.
The listing Agreement I signed when I last sold a place stipulated that if the house sold through someone that I personally found that the Realtor would still get a 3% commission or half of the full commission.
I couldn’t tell you what that seller’s situation is, but I’m assuming that most Realtor’s contracts will specify that the seller is still liable for at least some commission even if you do an end-run around their Realtor.
Re: going AROUND an agent - Posted by TKP, Houston
Posted by TKP, Houston on November 14, 2002 at 23:45:36:
pp, If the selling agent is not willing to rebate a portion of the 6% to you find an agent you can present your bid through and make an agreement with him/her to rebate 2 of the 3% back to you. I have in some cases got my agent to rebate as much as 2 1/2% to me.
TKP, Houston
The listing agent’s commission is the total amount what they offer to the buyer’s agent is between the two of them. I don’t know about Texas, but here in Georgia getting a refund on the commission is illegal.