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lenardzee

FSBO- Buyer Agents - $$$

lenardzee
10 years ago

Home sale in escrow.

Buyer: Using a buyers agent. No agreement or contract was signed with agent for their service. Nor was any agreement or discussion about commision discussed.

Seller: For Sale By Owner. Used a flat fee service to list on MLS.

Buying agent and buyer have never discussed any commision. The only assumption ever made was that buying agent is working double time and that it was harder to deal with both parties since buying agent is only REA involved. Buyer assumes that Buying agent commision is coming directly from seller and has left it at that.

What most likely has occured here? Would there be written agreements in place with seller and buying agent without any involvement with buyer?

Comments (13)

  • kirkhall
    10 years ago

    Possibly. What buyer's agent doesn't work without a contract, esp when it comes to working FSBO?

    And, is this only a hypothetical?

  • sylviatexas1
    10 years ago

    MLS listing will show what fee the seller is to pay a buyer's agent.

  • rrah
    10 years ago

    If the seller listed it in the MLS with a flat fee service, it's likely there was a commission listed for that house that the seller was willing to pay. What I saw most often for the few flat few houses was a commission that was roughly equal to what was frequently offered to a buyer's agent.

    Is the agent wanting more and wanting the buyer to pay for it?

  • lenardzee
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Is the agent wanting more and wanting the buyer to pay for it?

    No no discussion (or contract of any kind) whatsoever about commision well into escrow with buyer and buyers agent. Buyer assumes agent has made arrangements with the seller or the flat fee listing "agent". to get their cut.

  • terezosa / terriks
    10 years ago

    In my area's MLS compensation must be offered to the buyer's broker.

  • lenardzee
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    So in order for a property to be listed in the MLS, in this case by a flat fee listing service agent, that compensation for buyers agent from the seller is part of the stipulation for using the MLS.

  • weedyacres
    10 years ago

    So in order for a property to be listed in the MLS, in this case by a flat fee listing service agent, that compensation for buyers agent from the seller is part of the stipulation for using the MLS.

    Yes. With flat fee MLS you avoid listing agent fees, but have to pay the buyer's agent.

  • susanjn
    10 years ago

    "Home sale in escrow. "

    Wouldn't the buyer's agent's fee be spelled out in the contract? Seems to me that if you signed it, the matter would be considered "discussed".

  • terezosa / terriks
    10 years ago

    The commission that the seller is willing to pay should be spelled out in the listing agreement, not the sales contract.

    Instead of presenting this as a hypothetical case, how about telling us what has really happened?

  • ncrealestateguy
    10 years ago

    If it is listed in the MLS, your flat fee service provider has guaranteed a commission to any cooperating buyer's agent. Your listing agreement states what this amount is.
    You state that "the buyer's agent assumes that all commission is coming directly from the seller." Any agent in the business any amount of time knows that any commission from a transaction through the MLS always comes through the listing agent, not the seller. Once the listing agent inputs a listing into the MLS, he is contractually offering compensation to any buyer's agent that brings a buyer to close.

  • onlygirlsmom
    10 years ago

    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.

  • terezosa / terriks
    10 years ago

    If the commission was agreed to in the listing agreement and also spelled out on MLS, whoever handles the escrow is likely to cut a check for that amount to the buyer's broker, since it is in the contract.

  • weedyacres
    10 years ago

    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.

    When we were listed FSBO and interviewing realtors, we asked all of them what happened if someone that saw it when FSBO wrote an offer while they had it listed, and they all said "full commission still due." Your market/customs may be different, but in any case, it should be spelled out in the listing agreement.