Help! Thinking of switching agents

[CAresident2007]

I'll try to keep this brief and to the point. I really could use some input here. Three months ago, we bid on a house we wanted to buy. We have an agent who we have been working with for a long time to find a house. He is nearing retirement and has been slowing down and also getting ready to move out of state. The offer we made on the house didn't result in a deal. I wasn't very happy with how the offer went; I felt as though it ended quickly without much negotiation, almost like the agents didn't care if the deal went through. Fast forward three months. The house was taken off the market and then put back on a month later, with a new agent. I advised our agent that I might be interested in making an offer; I asked him to touch base with the new listing agent and also I wanted some comps. Well he is totally dragging his feet on both counts. I also wanted to talk to him about whether he and the listing agent might be open to refunding some of their commissions, should we and the sellers get close in price. He indicated he wasn't interested in this. I suddenly realized that he's pre-occupied with his retirement and has lost interest in our house-buying efforts. I am now considering approaching the listing agent and making an offer through her. She seems very "on the ball" and personality-wise we mesh well (I met her at an open house, not the house we are considering buying).

Since the house has a new agent, are we still obligated to use our current agent to negotiate the deal? What are the legal ramifications of not using our agent to make an offer this time? I have serious misgivings about our agent and I don't believe we will get this house if we continue with him. Again, the previous time we made an offer on the house, the sellers had a different agent. Thanks for any help or advice you can give.

[MileHighAgent.com]

Interesting situation you are in.
The bottom line is: it sounds like you'd like to buy the house that has a new listing agent. Do you have a contract with your current (almost retired) agent in place...did you ever? If so, you'll want to read your contract to see what your obligations are to your current Realtor.
I'm sorry that you feel you are getting less than great service from your Realtor. If I were your Realtor, I'd want you to tell me you feel this way - I can bet that if you tell him - he will do one of two things...kick it up a few notches and get to work or he'll let you know that he's about to retire and would like to end the contract you're currently in (this would free you up to go work with the listing agent or any other agent).
There is one little concern I saw in your initial message - you mentioned you are thinking of asking your agent - or you have asked your agent - to take a lesser commission on the deal.
As with most services and products today - you get what you pay for - if you feel you're getting less service it might be because he's agreed to be paid less or because he's living up to your expectations of deserving less commission????
Keep in mind that your home is most likely your largest investment and upholds your financial livelihood for you and your family...
Would you ask your heart surgeon to give you a discount on quadruple bypass surgery?
I doubt you'd take the chance that he'd do his best job on with your livelihood/heart/health.
Please don't put your livelihood in the hands of a discounter.
Good luck on getting that house! I recommend having a talk with your Realtor to see where he'd like to see your business relationship go.
:)
Dawn Tieken -

[CAresident2007]

That's a good idea, I probably need to have a talk with him and get this out on the table. As for the commission... well it's a very high end home and I am all for paying for top notch services. But with the amount of commission in this case there should be some flexibility. We're not talking about the agents making $5,000 each on this sale-- it would be substantially more!

[MileHighAgent.com]

Definitely speak with your agent...open communication - it's the best policy.
There's a lot more at stake with the bigger deals - I especially wouldn't recommend asking for a discount... You have too much to risk to have your agent giving you half the attention you need.
Enjoy your new home...sounds like you will buy it one way or another. Cheers!

[boise real estate]

:o The first thing I would ask you is if you have any type of a signed agreement with your existing agent? If you do then you must get out of that first before you can approach the current listing agent to use her. If you don't do this your current agent could cause problems for the listing agent and demand their share of the commission even if they do nothing on the sale. Therefore, for everyones sake if you are going to move forward clear up the past.

I'll try to keep this brief and to the point. I really could use some input here. Three months ago, we bid on a house we wanted to buy. We have an agent who we have been working with for a long time to find a house. He is nearing retirement and has been slowing down and also getting ready to move out of state. The offer we made on the house didn't result in a deal. I wasn't very happy with how the offer went; I felt as though it ended quickly without much negotiation, almost like the agents didn't care if the deal went through. Fast forward three months. The house was taken off the market and then put back on a month later, with a new agent. I advised our agent that I might be interested in making an offer; I asked him to touch base with the new listing agent and also I wanted some comps. Well he is totally dragging his feet on both counts. I also wanted to talk to him about whether he and the listing agent might be open to refunding some of their commissions, should we and the sellers get close in price. He indicated he wasn't interested in this. I suddenly realized that he's pre-occupied with his retirement and has lost interest in our house-buying efforts. I am now considering approaching the listing agent and making an offer through her. She seems very "on the ball" and personality-wise we mesh well (I met her at an open house, not the house we are considering buying).

Since the house has a new agent, are we still obligated to use our current agent to negotiate the deal? What are the legal ramifications of not using our agent to make an offer this time? I have serious misgivings about our agent and I don't believe we will get this house if we continue with him. Again, the previous time we made an offer on the house, the sellers had a different agent. Thanks for any help or advice you can give.

[TJ2007]

I apologize to all the other good agents out there, but this is a major problem - unmotivated, lazy agents who don't want to negotiate or don't know how!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It is truly amazing the small amount of agents that actually get things done!

There are a few stellar exceptions of which I am sure there may be a couple in this forum...

He job is to present your offer and negotiate your points in your best interest - if he is not doing this - GO GET ANOTHER RIGHT NOW...
IF he is NOT 'the procuring cause of the sale' then he is going nevwer going to be able to pursue the commission...

Going direct to the new agent might save you a buck, but I would strongly warn you against this - YOU NEED SOMEONE REPRESENTING YOU & YOUR INTERESTS!!

Normally agents get turned off by discussing cutting commissions no matter how bog they are (I mean if you sell multi million homes all day you expect to be making millions yourself too =)

However in this case I would walk in to my local real estate (REMAX may be a good way to go as they often have more experience & flexibility), and say I have found the home I want to buy and am ready to make an offer right now - I have done half your job for you already, it would seem reasonable for you to be willing to cut me back something from your commission in some form or lower the purchase price in exchange for her asking a lower commission..........

GOOD LUCK.

If you would feel more comfortable I can refer you to a good agent in your area (for free), please email or PM me

[Agent 007]

I am going to chime in on this one...

First, like someone already said, make sure you are not in an exclusive contract with your current agent. If you are and you decide to go with another agent and buy this home, know that he probably has rights to the commission instead of the other agent because he was the original procuring cause of the sale. He took you to the home the first time.

Second, if you decide to work directly with the listing agent, you will be in a dual agency situation. This means that the agent will be working with both the buyer and seller, which is a conflict of interest. It is allowed in some states, in others it's not. You would not really have any representation with this because the agent has limitations of what they can say or do. The only positive thing I could see by working with the listing agent directly is that they might be able to rebate you some commission dollars. Depending on their agreement with their seller, they will probably make double the money as they normally would only working with one side. Therefore, they will have some additional money, yet additional work too. I never recommend asking agents for rebates because I think it can come off tacky to everyone and possibly get you a lesser service. It also doesn't matter if you offer the list price or a few thousand less to really make much of a difference on your agent's commission anyway.

Third, someone mentioned going to a Remax agent because they have more experience. This is a huge false statement. There are many of us agents that have plenty of experience and knowledge to get the job done right and aren't working at Remax. I will agree that most of the larger companies have proven to have better training for their agents though. This is with any of the larger brokerages though, including Prudential, Remax, Century 21, Keller Williams, etc.

How much is this home listed at anyway?

If you want a quality agent that might consider rebating you a portion of their commission, let me know and I will refer you to one of my excellent contacts in that area. You can email me at LenM@AmericanaGrp.com.

[TJ2007]

Yes you should check if you signed some kind of Buyers Agent agreement, however I would still agrue that even if this agent took you to the home, but couldn't negotiate a deal for you or wouldn't HE REALLY IS NOT THE PROCURING CAUSE - because he couldn't get it done and the reason you are going to get it done is because you fired him and used someone else!

He wouldn't have a chance in court, and if his broker was smart they would leave it alone anyway...

I have been a realtor & mortgage broker. Once one of my mortgage clients, changed realtors 3 times trying to negotiate a deal on a house, I got my deal done, and none of the other realtors had the guts to complain as it was they who failed to make it happen...





I am going to chime in on this one...

First, like someone already said, make sure you are not in an exclusive contract with your current agent. If you are and you decide to go with another agent and buy this home, know that he probably has rights to the commission instead of the other agent because he was the original procuring cause of the sale. He took you to the home the first time.

Second, if you decide to work directly with the listing agent, you will be in a dual agency situation. This means that the agent will be working with both the buyer and seller, which is a conflict of interest. It is allowed in some states, in others it's not. You would not really have any representation with this because the agent has limitations of what they can say or do. The only positive thing I could see by working with the listing agent directly is that they might be able to rebate you some commission dollars. Depending on their agreement with their seller, they will probably make double the money as they normally would only working with one side. Therefore, they will have some additional money, yet additional work too. I never recommend asking agents for rebates because I think it can come off tacky to everyone and possibly get you a lesser service. It also doesn't matter if you offer the list price or a few thousand less to really make much of a difference on your agent's commission anyway.

Third, someone mentioned going to a Remax agent because they have more experience. This is a huge false statement. There are many of us agents that have plenty of experience and knowledge to get the job done right and aren't working at Remax. I will agree that most of the larger companies have proven to have better training for their agents though. This is with any of the larger brokerages though, including Prudential, Remax, Century 21, Keller Williams, etc.

How much is this home listed at anyway?

If you want a quality agent that might consider rebating you a portion of their commission, let me know and I will refer you to one of my excellent contacts in that area. You can email me at LenM@AmericanaGrp.com.

[TJ2007]

Please don't take offense to my comment about REMAX agents having more experience...

(ALSO years or experience doesn't actually mean they are any good)

Yes there are dozens of agents out there with more experience and that may be better to work with.

HOWEVER; to my knowledge REMAX only hires experienced agents, with years in the business and a proven track record of sales.

Compared to C21, Coldwell etc who probably have the best training programs, but then often have offices full of new agents who have no experience.

Again these are generaL observations not rules...

Personally I think that neither years of experience, being a member of the 'million dollar club', working for the biggest comany, or especially having a bunch of letters after your name make a good realtor!

I think it's more about people & negotiating skills, having a real interest in seeing your clients succeed, and have tons of DRIVE & MOTIVATION to get out there and sell homes, and most importantly love what you're doing...

[CAresident2007]

I really appreciate your responses. I know there are pros and cons to using the listing agent (dual agent situation) and it is legal in my state. We have decided to try it. I would not approach the listing agent if we were first time buyers but in reality we have bought/sold real estate many times and I think we can look out for ourselves. This particular listing agent has a great reputation within my small community. She offered me some references from clients who have used her in a dual agent situation, and that impressed me!

The house is listed for $2.3 million. Not a small chunk of change, LOL.

As for the remark about using REMAX... haha, the agent who can't get the job done IS a REMAX agent.

So we'll see what happens. I'd like to try this approach and see if the result is any different. Btw, I was a very loyal client of this particular agent who failed to get the job done. I think most clients DO prefer to keep with the same agent and it's only when the ball is dropped that we end up feeling there's no other option but to make a change. I know in our case, it seems like the guy simply took our business for granted as he didn't follow up on things the way I would have expected. I'll keep you all posted!

[Agent 007]

I really appreciate your responses. I know there are pros and cons to using the listing agent (dual agent situation) and it is legal in my state. We have decided to try it. I would not approach the listing agent if we were first time buyers but in reality we have bought/sold real estate many times and I think we can look out for ourselves. This particular listing agent has a great reputation within my small community. She offered me some references from clients who have used her in a dual agent situation, and that impressed me!

The house is listed for $2.3 million. Not a small chunk of change, LOL.

As for the remark about using REMAX... haha, the agent who can't get the job done IS a REMAX agent.

So we'll see what happens. I'd like to try this approach and see if the result is any different. Btw, I was a very loyal client of this particular agent who failed to get the job done. I think most clients DO prefer to keep with the same agent and it's only when the ball is dropped that we end up feeling there's no other option but to make a change. I know in our case, it seems like the guy simply took our business for granted as he didn't follow up on things the way I would have expected. I'll keep you all posted!

It doesn't matter if the listing agent is a good agent or not, dual agency still has no representation to the buyer. The listing agent has fiduciary duties to the seller first and foremost. Now how is the listing agent going to get you the best deal?

Especially when you are buying a muli-million dollar home! I would want my own agent on this one for sure.

[CAresident2007]

Thanks, really appreciate your response, but we've bought and sold "by owner" before and represented ourselves. Granted, it's not ideal, but I do like this particular listing agent and feel we can represent ourselves if need be. I think she might be quite motivated to make this sale go through, as she will be making the whole commission for herself. I've spoken to some other agents and sure we can get another buyer's agent but in this case I think it's OK not to. Like I said, if I was a first time buyer I would not do it this way.