Buying FSBO w/out realtor

3 years ago

We've been trying to find a house to buy for 10year. My husband has a large service truck he parks at home and it has been difficult finding a property that works, in a small town, not many choices. Our current realtor (4th) has showed us many properties and has done a few offers. There is a FSBO home that is perfect for us 1 mile down the rd. We all, and HE passes it everyday. Always had an excuse not to show us. He totally missed the mark on picking houses. Well, I finally called the owner myself and it checks off absolutely every box on our want list! (except my pool) So, I made an offer and its been the smoothest process I've ever been in buying a home. My question. As I'm a little upset that we've been driving past our dream home for 6 months, finding out, that because they do not want to deal with a realtor, that he wouldn't let me have anything to do with it.
Now he wants 2.5% for nothing. He cost us money by having us extend our lease because of not finding a home yet. All the while.... It was right there!!!!! I dont have to pay him do I?

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Comments (14)

pudgeder
3 years ago
Did you sign any contract w/the realtor?
Gina Nagode
Original Author
3 years ago
I dont think so. And what if seller refuses to work with him and I can't get the home for some reason. Can I fire him?
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Thanks NC and thanks for your quick reply to my initial question. It was so logical but I had no idea how FSBO worked. We are under contract to buy the FSBO. I am so excited and am crossing my fingers that inspection and appraisal go well. We ended up offering above their asking price in order to pay our realtor her commission. We agreed on us paying the commission, sellers paying half of our closing cost, and sellers leaving their washer and dryer for us. I feel that even with adding in the commission we still got a great deal on the house. When they had it listed with a realtor in the past it was listed for about $10k more than what we are paying for it and I am happy with what we are getting for our money. We are getting a finished house with great private outdoor space and a heated 3-car garage and I can't wait. I live next door to my in-laws right now and need a little more peace and privacy in my life! I also can't wait to have a garage. We have rough winters and have not had a garage for 10 years. No more scraping windshields in the morning before work. Wooohooo! Thanks again for all of the great advice on this board. I got a lot of helpful advice on this site a few months ago about finding a better realtor after our last one slacked off a lot and I'm glad I took that advice to heart too!
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I just re-read the OP and remembered this regarding calls by Realtors trying to list your FSBO home - If you are on the National Do-Not-Call Registry, Realtors are not supposed to call you unless they have a buyer interested in your home. If they do call you, they are subject to fines, which may take something to pursue, but just get their brokers' names and take it up with them, and then the local board if they don't or won't. That's an easy start. The one thing about Realtors is that they are all easy to find on the internet and their broker and local board, if they are legit, licensed, and actual Realtors or even Real Estate Agents. Brokers all have to have some sort of do-not-call procedure to prevent this from happening. You can also put a single sentence in your ads that states the fact that you are on the Do-Not-Call registry and that solicitation calls will be reported, that sort of thing. Not sure if you tried this, but it should be some relief from the onslaught of soliciting listings. Here is a link that might be useful: Article from Realtor magazine
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Rapunzel, 50 DOM is in no way a stale listing. A lot of agents let newer agents man the open houses. There is nothing unusual about this, you had the open house, does it really matter if "your" agent wasnt the one who sat there? As far as getting the list of realtors who have shown the house so you can call. I will tell you that when someone elses seller calls me to tell me about price reductions or ask for feedback,(and it doesnt happen that often) it makes me think the people are desperate to sell and the relationship between agent and seller has broken down. You are taking away your realtors negotiating power by doing something like that because now every realtor who you called has the feeling that you are at your wits end.Agents can see the price change in the MLS computer, there is no reason for you to call them to let them know that. It sounds like you are very frustrated that things are not happening the way you want them to happen, but it doesnt really sound like she's doing anything wrong, just that she's not doing it to your satisfaction. The best way to handle it would be to discuss your concerns with her. Tell her you would like feedback from the showings, ask for copies of ads that were run so you can see where it has been advertized. But you have to ask for the right stuff, asking for the list of realtors is not the right thing to ask for. Last but not least, she doesnt have a "boss". Realtors are independant contractors. Calling her broker to complain about her not giving you a list of realtors who have shown the house will do nothing for you except tick her off and make her not want to do even more for you. Unless she's breaking office policy or doing something illegal or unethical, she won't be reprimanded, fired, have a letter put in her file, or even spoken to for that matter. Probably the broker will say, so and so called to complain, maybe you should give her a call to settle her down. Remember, she wants your house to sell, its the only way she gets paid. If you have ideas, suggestions or things you want that you don't feel like getting, talk to her, you might find she's open to it.
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She is putting in an offer tonight. Or should I say we are going to the house to negotiate the price, which will then be put on a written contract. We ended up using a business associate of my DH and DFIL. He does commercial real estate. He is really just acting like a consultant in the process. From comments made by the seller, it sounds like he is willing to negotiate more without a realtor, which makes some sense for both of us. This is definitely a starter home in the area where we have lived for most of our lives. I'm not sure how I would feel about doing this on a more expensive house or in an area that I was unfamiliar with. The previous owner is a coworker of mine.
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Lyndee Lee
3 years ago
Did you involve your realtor in any way in making the offer? If you have brought him into the deal he should be compensated in some fashion. Otherwise, the realtor has no right to expect money if you found the home without his participation. Now if you have signed an agreement specifically with the realtor to be your buyer's agent, then he is your agent and this situation should be covered in that agreement. In my area, buyer's agents aren't common. A hungry realtor would have knocked on that guy's door and tried to arrange a deal for a small percentage but if he didn't, he shouldn't expect a full commission. If the house is right, offer the realtor a fee to do paperwork or just call a local real estate lawyer
Gina Nagode
Original Author
3 years ago
Ok exactly what I thought. No he had no participation what so ever. Actually steered us away from looking at it. Im using a local real estate attorney that has answered all of our questions and more. Such a relief not having to wait on everyone else. Bing, bang, boom. Done!! Thanks for the answer.
Lala
3 years ago
Don't forget to get an inspection :)
Gina Nagode
Original Author
3 years ago
yes we did that already. thank you
homechef59
3 years ago
If there is no signed buyer's agreement, you owe the realtor nothing. He knows that. You will piss him off royally. Legally, the realtor has no contract with you or the seller, express or even implied. Your closing attorney will assist you with this if it becomes a thorny problem.

Good for you for showing imitative. Enjoy your new home.
Gina Nagode
Original Author
3 years ago
Thank you!!
midcenturymodernlove
3 years ago
last modified: 3 years ago
You are legally bound to this agent ONLY if you signed a Buyer's Agent agreement with him in most states. You will have a copy of that document.

He can make an argument that he assisted in the sale if he took any step in furtherance of this sale. He has to demonstrate that HE was the procuring cause of the purchase. Sounds like he didn't even show it to you.

If he refused to even try to show you a home you were interested in because it was FSBO, he's not a good agent anyway.

I would simply state that he was unable or unwilling to even procure a showing of this property, and that you made the deal happen, and (IF TRUE) you are not bound by a Buyer Agent Agreement, so you proceeded into this transaction. You were forced to make the deal happen yourself.

Check your documents.

I agree that FSBOs have been my smoothest purchases as well, but you do have to know what you are doing at each step and how to legally protect yourself. Have a real estate attorney (not just any attorney) look over the documents.

It depends very much on the wording of your document as to whether he will attempt to pursue any kind of compensation. Most buyer-broker agreements will include ALL purchases by the buyer during a set period of time - and they stretch that period of time out longer than the contract period, hoping you 1) won't notice and 2) they can make some kind of case that their knowledge contributed to the sale. Watch out for those kind of provisions and always strike them. Brokerage documents are written to protect the brokerage, not the buyer. If you had signed a Buyer Agent (or Broker Agent) Agreement, a provision would have been included that you owe compensation even if you purchase a home directly from the owner. It is irrelevant that the Seller won't pay any commission - YOU owe it, if you buy FSBO, if that is included in your contract.
Gina Nagode
Original Author
3 years ago
can I go thru with the sale and compensate him later?
homechef59
3 years ago
Gina, Did you sign a buyer's agreement?

You haven't said yes or no and your last post has me wondering.

If you did, chances are pretty good that you owe him the 2.5%.

You must talk to your closing attorney and get a legal opinion.
Scotty D
3 years ago
It’s common in many areas that agents include the buyers agreement, they act like it’s the accepted way, but it’s all negotiable when you start the relationship.
midcenturymodernlove
3 years ago
Gina, I don't understand this question: " can I go thru with the sale and compensate him later?"

Did you sign a Buyer's Agent Agreement (Might be called Broker Agreement) or not?

Buying FSBO w/out realtor

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Buying FSBO w/out realtor

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