Posted by Frank Chin on December 15, 2003 at 07:57:23:
Greg:
I assume that you have an exclusive with a realtor, in which case the listing agreement governs.
Where I’m coming from, my wife was a realtor, and I’ve had let listings expire. I also withdrew a 3 month listing after about 2 months because of 9-11, after the RE agent said people just stopped coming in.
I never paid an agent for expenses even though they put a sign on the lawn, printed flyers, listed the place on MLS, did a “open house” etc.
What they have to do upon expiration is furnish me with names of people they showed the property to, and if I happend to sell to them after the listing expired, they are due a commission.
A property priced right should sell in 3 months. The one I let the listing expire was overpriced by 10%, so I justed re-rented the place. To me, realtors earn a commission by performing, and if they can’t get it sold in 6 months, they don’t deserve anything.
Just don’t sign anything. Why should you if you plan to go somewhere else. If the realtor is due anything on the original listing agreement, let them show you where it is.
Realator Charging for Expenses when Contract Ends - Posted by Greg Smith
Posted by Greg Smith on December 14, 2003 at 20:45:46:
My contract with my realator to sell our house will end January 1st. The first contract was for 6 months and we think it is time to try someone else. She is trying to force us in signing a new contract with her.
The way that she is doing this is having us sign a form to take our house off the market. We would take the house off the market for 3 months then relist it as a new listing. In this document we are obligated to pay $ 600+ that she has spent in advertising if we sell the house on our own or go to a different realator. There is no fee for $ 600+ if we sign a second contract with her. I’ve asked the terms of this next contract and she says that we don’t need to worry about it until the time we put the house back on the market.
Even if we don’t take the house off the market for approximately 3 months, she still wants us to pay for her expenses.
There is nothing in our original contract that states that we are obligated to pay.
This doesn’t sound very ethical or legal. Is it?
Posted by River City on December 15, 2003 at 12:03:14:
I agree with everything Frank said above. If they don’t sell the house, they have not earned anything. Be sure to ALWAYS read a realtor’s contract before signing. If there is anything in the contract that you do not like, negotiate it. But, put everything in writing. When they say “trust me,” don’t. Because, it is the contract that prevails.