Agent says I didnt find the buyer

[Krazza]

This isnt going to go down too well, but I would appreciate any comments, You can IM if you like to keep things private.

Im not sure this is common practice but my wifes agent gave her a deal when selling a home 6-4-2. Im not 100% sure yet (havent got my hands on the agreement) but i guess the 6 was for the agent to find the buyer and sell. The 4 was for another agent to find the buyer, meaning they split the 4, 2% each. And the 2% was for if we found the buyer.

Like im not 100% thats the exact way, but thats the way it was told to me.

Anyway after when I saw the agent not doing much other than listing on VRBO and three months later, i started advertising the home myself and having my open house days. (at all my own time and costs)

I had a person come to one of these inspections (he is now the buyer we settle next week) he told me he came because of my ad and my independant website i built for the home. His agent (a friend) did not know about the home.

Now my agent is telling me his agent gave him a list of homes to look at and one of those was ours. This means my agent is saying that their multi listing sold the home and that we are up for the full 6%.

Now, do I confront them at settlement and see if the buyer will verify the conversation we had at open house or do i strike before that.?

Lets see you opinions.

Regards and thanks..

(btw Im willing to suggest to my wife we pull out of the sale)

[Alpharetta]

Ask the other real estate agent to provide your agent with the flyer from the mls. It should have his name and date on it. Do it now, not at the closing. It should be easy to determine.

[Krazza]

Ask the other real estate agent to provide your agent with the flyer from the mls. It should have his name and date on it. Do it now, not at the closing. It should be easy to determine.

So the other agent would have printed off the mls to give to the buyer and kep a copy for himself....?

thanks...

[Alpharetta]

You said that they had a list of homes. I'm not sure if they kept it, but, it sure would make for a simple resolution if they can produce a document that shows the printout. Just ask...You never know. Some agents throw away the printout. I keep mine in the file for the buyer.

[TJ2007]

Hehehehehe, this one sounds fun...

Sounds like at most should be 4% from what you said. Though you really have to see what date if any buyer was given the information -

But then again - if the contract is only between you and the buyer with no agents on it then the no agents were 'THE PROCURING CAUSE OF THE SALE'.

If the agents didn't actually assist in negotiating the deal then they really didn't make it happen, and could definitley be argued.

It's worth running it buy the attorney at the title company that's doing the closing...

If you are really on the right side of the line here, guess you could threaten to cancel the deal and am sure the agents would rather get something than nothing.

That said I hate to see any hard working realtors get screwed, so make sure the Right thing is being done...

[FlaGal]

and that's exactly why I'm going to keep my hands off those kinds of deals.
I do the advertising and marketing. I want no advertising by the owner. After all, they hired me to advertise, market and bring them a buyer.
If my sellers aren't happy with my efforts, they can terminate the contract. Simple as that.

[VegasRealEstate]

Before you cancel, make sure you know what the consequences are? I believe you said you are due to close next week, so I am assuming that you are past all due diligence periods so depending on what your contract states, the buyer could sue you for backing out (not saying that will happen). Read your contract!!!!

[Krazza]

and that's exactly why I'm going to keep my hands off those kinds of deals.
I do the advertising and marketing. I want no advertising by the owner. After all, they hired me to advertise, market and bring them a buyer.
If my sellers aren't happy with my efforts, they can terminate the contract. Simple as that.

Yeah i can see your point, but in this instance we thought we had the resources to perhaps make a difference and our agent didnt seem to mind otherwise the offer wouldnt have been in there.

As for the effort our agent was going to advertise the property, well lets not go there, really. We didnt start to do anything till 3 months down the track.

Whats come to the surface in the last 24 hrs is the issue of the buyer being represented at the time when he came to our open house. There is some doubt there was any agreement in place with his now agent.

We are stuck between a rock and hard place here (for want of a more colorful term)!!!

Appreciate the responses.

[erogers]

Contact your attorney and have them go over your contract with the agent and the circumstances of the sale. It's tough to say one thing or another before seeing everything laid out. There are so many different agreements and contracts around the country, to even suggest you do anything but consult an attorney at this point would do more harm than good.

[Alpharetta]

I am going to have to go with erogers on this one. Just get with an attorney and be honest. Don't try to cheat the agent out money if he truly earned it.

[Krazza]

We settled yesterday. We sucked up the 6%. Perhaps another example of read read read. I must say though it hasnt done anything for my admiration of the realtor profession. But I know no ones is imune to characters that give others a bad name.

As for how we got this far if any one is interested I sold this place via Craigslist and as I said with a website I built. (If you ever need one, you know the story, or if you want a look at what worked?, drop me a line)

Cheers

ps: Alpharetta? thats where I live...surreal...!!

[Krazza]

Im new to this stuff if you hadnt realized, but heres a new twist.

The attorney comes to us three days after closing and says there has been an error (by who I havent worked out) in the calculating of the final payout of a mortgage we had on the property.

$450 roughly...

Whats that all about.? Is this a common thing?

I said to the wife (as you probably have gained this was her deal) TOO BAD..., we have settled in full....she said ..oh I already paid it today after they told me.......!! ...nice one wifey...!!

Im just home from the bar......solace in alcohol....hmm....

[Peppergal1969]

Well since you're so competent yourself, I don't know why you didn't just sell it yourself to begin with and handle the closing on your own. I'm sure you would have saved yourself that $450.:p

[YourOrlando.com]

What a mess. It sounds like you and the agent were trying to do the same job. I agree with FLAGAL, no way I would have been caught up in a deal like this. I list with an exclusive right of sale, period. I'm guessing your agent was less than expeienced to get caught up in something like this. It nice to see you did the right thing in the end. Sorry, your agent let you down. If it makes you feel any better, those agents just don't seem to last. Next time, ask for a referral. The great agents are worth thier weight in gold and are proud of their past client's satisfaction. Best of luck. Thanks for sharing.

[Krazza]

Well since you're so competent yourself, I don't know why you didn't just sell it yourself to begin with and handle the closing on your own. I'm sure you would have saved yourself that $450.:p

Pepper..Oh you are so right about the "competent" part. Thanks for your valuable insight and kudos. :rolleyes:

Orlando, good advice for anyone. Unfortunately this was one of those times when some previous history clouded later judgement and more in depth analysis. Hey, I have learned a lot believe me over the past few weeks. Thanks.

[Lenderles]

Exclussive right to sell, "And away we go" they must be really desperate
in your town to do 6-4-2. Either I sell it, or I move on to the next one.
In Georgia we have a register list for open houses. If the buyer signs this list without a realtor. That realtor (when he/she crawls from under the rock) will have to get his commission from the buyer at the closing.

[Agent 007]

Procurring cause is a very difficult thing to determine who gets paid. By everything you stated in this situation, I would have thought that the most you would have gotten paid is 4% because the question was the other agent bringing the buyer, not your agent bringing the buyer. This could have been all avoided by going with a normal listing agreement without these crazy terms. "Exclusive Right-to-Sell" agreements are the only ones for me. I don't even like to cut a break if I bring the buyer to one of my listings. It means I have to do twice the work and fully represent both parties. Full commission all the way around.