FSBO - Buyer's Agent Questions

10 years ago

I posted our house FSBO on Zillow and CL on Monday. We have 4 showings this weekend. I had originally said in my Zillow ad that we would work with buyer's agents. I just changed that to say that we won't work with buyer's agents.

I am unsure how to handle these two situations.

1) A realtor called me on behalf of his clients who are family members of his. The buyers had looked at our house when it was for sale the last time (when we bought it). They wanted it at that time but couldn't get the financing together. Now they are pre-approved, have a good down payment and are ready to go. He asked me, "What are you thinking 3%?" I replied, "That depends upon their offer. We can talk about it."

They have not yet come to see the house. Can I call or email the realtor at this point and tell him that based upon the interest in our home we are now not willing to work with a buyers agent? Alternately could I say, "We are willing to work with a buyer's agent but it may affect the buyers' chances of actually purchasing the home." If we are lucky enough to get multiple offers an offer with a buyers agent attached is much less attractive.

2) A buyer called me today and said, "I saw your house on Zillow and would like to set up a showing." We set up a time and I asked if he was working with a real estate agent. He said he was. If the buyer found the house himself and called himself to set up the showing why would I pay an agent? I have to call this person back can or should I tell him that we will not work with an agent? After writing that out it seems stupid to even ask. Of course I should tell him that! Right?

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Comments (9)

jewelisfabulous
10 years ago
Regarding situation #1, do nothing. You have no offers. If they submit an offer, you can decide at that time whether or not to agree to the 3% commission based on the situation at the time (the details of their offer, whether you have other offers, etc.).

Regarding situation #2, do nothing at this time. If the buyer indicates his interest in your house after viewing it and/or if the buyer submits an offer, you can tell him that you don't intend to pay the realtor's commission.
louislinus
Original Author
10 years ago
Does the fact that I had advertised it originally (for only 2 days) as "willing to work with buyer's agents" obligate me in any way?
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When we tried selling our house previously through a flat fee MLS listing service, we agreed to pay commission to the buyer's realtor. We didn't end up selling the house that way, but one realtor who had a very interested buyer had us sign an agreement that we would pay her 3% commission, which we would have been happy to do. If you have a buyer, with a realtor, it would be in your best interest to pay that realtor her commission. After all, she did bring you a buyer. Also, my parents have had their house listed FSBO for several years now, they recently found a new house which motivated them to get their house sold. They enlisted the help of a realtor. They received an offer from someone who had walked through it while it was under FSBO but before they had enlisted the help of their realtor. They -the seller - are actually paying the commission of their realtor, although, legally, they probably don't have to.
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Hey Wow, I've been absent a couple days from the board (my whole family including DH has the chicken pox). It has been hard to keep up with everything. Just wanted to clear up a couple of things about my initial question and current situation. The paper the realtor had the seller sign was not a contract, it was a disclaimer that any offer presented through the realtor included 3% sales commission. I did not know that at first. Second, my first idea was not a flat fee it was 1.5-2% split evenly by buyer and seller. My confusion was that in our area (midwest) houses sell from 130k to 300k, if my realtor sold a house at 130k of which he has many listed than that would earn him the same sales commission that I was offering him so how could he lose money just because the price was higher. I was confused about that. He did ultimately agree to the fee, maybe only because he was aware we could present our offer directly to the seller. This realtor is a good friend of mine and I think he may have felt bad knowing that the seller did not want to go through him. I wanted to make a deal that would work for all 3 parties. I read another post where people found and bought a fsbo and sent thier realtor a thank you note, and a gas card and hopefully some refferals. I found that concept insulting. I did like some of the ideas about a gift card, more expensive and not for gas ($500), but of course worried that would also be insulting. I did not entertain the idea of them losing money because it is slow sales in our area right now and my realtor's firm just started about 4 months ago. Honestly I would have thought his reaction would have been more along the lines of "Thank you, I know that you had no obligation to use our office and your faith in me means alot". I did not get that reaction and by the time they agreed to the 4000 I felt like I was practically begging. As for owner thinking we were eager buyers, that is possible. I believe he had his house priced about 25K below what a realtor could have sold for. I think that he fairly priced it without that 5-6% in it. I truly believe I got a good price in the end 283500. I want to thank everyone on this board and especially all the realtors that post here. I've learned alot
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jewelisfabulous
10 years ago
I don't think so because you didn't give details as to what you meant by "work with". Also, because to the one realtor you said, "That depends upon their offer. We can talk about it."
gyr_falcon
10 years ago
Why would you want to cut your buying pool in that way? Several buyers (with agents) might both want the house and end up offering more than the commission amount over the best non-agented buyer's offer. It isn't as if you would have to accept their offers. If your house does not get a large enough offer from a non-agented buyer, the names of previously interested parties could prove useful. If your house ends up not selling after it has been on the market for a while, and you then decide to open up to offers from buyers with agents, your listing will be "old" and less likely to get a full-priced offer. The early viewers are often more likely to worry about other offers being put on the table, and take that into consideration when they make their offer.
threepinktrees
10 years ago
Why don't you offer to split the buyer agent comission with the buyer? Honestly, working with a buyer who has an agent *will* be easier for you. You'll get a vetted buyer who's being aided in negotiations and therefore hopefully being given a healthy dose of 'reasonableness.' Your potential buyers already know they want the house, offering to give 1.5 percent to their real estate agent seems reasonable if you don't get a better offer before they come.
ncrealestateguy
10 years ago
You just need to make up your mind one way or another. You're on the market.
What GYR_FALCON says above.
c9pilot
10 years ago
"If the buyer found the house himself and called himself to set up the showing why would I pay an agent?"

FYI - a buyer's agent does more than set up showings, in fact, they may be reluctant to work with YOU because not only do you not want to pay them, they may assume that they'll be doing much more work than a typical transaction working with a listing agent
ncrealestateguy
10 years ago
And by the way... you negotiate what you are willing to pay the buyer's agent BEFORE they even bring the buyer to the home. The commission amount is between you and the buyer's agent, and the buyer has nothing contractually to do with it.
The reason I always get a Commission Agreement Form signed prior to bringing in any buyer is because I know there are people out there like you that would go back on their word once you knew the agent's buyer was interested.
louislinus
Original Author
10 years ago
"I know there are people out there like you that would go back on their word once you knew the agent's buyer was interested."

Ouch.

FSBO - Buyer's Agent Questions

Comments (9)

jewelisfabulous

louislinus
Original Author

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FSBO - Buyer's Agent Questions

Comments (9)

jewelisfabulous

louislinusOriginal Author

Related Discussions

jewelisfabulous

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COMPANY

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GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

louislinus
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