Thread: Will MLS agent I use affect if my offer is accepted?

You need a Realtor to represent you. What company they work for is not as important as the strength of your offer, the motivation of the seller, recent sold comps, etc. This is what may affect the seller accepting your offer. Unless there is some bad blood between the agents or if the listing agent wants to get both ends of the commission-it should not make a difference what company the agent representing you works for.

Remember the listing agent works for the sellers, not you and is trying to get the most money for the sellers.

Originally Posted by James7

I am looking to buy a house. Rather than using different agents, can I get one agent to show me all the MLS listings that we are interested in? Will this affect commissions and the acceptance of my offer?

For example, one of the homes is listed with Century21 at $80,000. I have been getting a Coldwell Banker agent to show us homes. She seems honest and I like her. I am not sure how commission splitting works. If the Coldwell agent shows me this Century21 listing, will they be less likely to accept my offer? I plan to offer $70,000. Should I go ahead and get the Century21 agent to show me the home? Would this increase the chance that my offer is accepted, since that would increase the commission for the Century21 agent (since he would not have to split it with the Coldwell agent). Sorry if this sounds confusing. I would appreciate any help or advice, if you can understand what i am asking. Thank you.

Correct! Your real estate salesperson should represent your interests in the transaction. The seller's salesperson is hired to represent their interests in the transaction.

Have a specific discussion with your representative about how (and how much) they get paid - there are many possibilities and choices - including that they accept a portion of the seller's agent's fee as agreed to in the MLS.

You CAN make other agreements however.

you should try on google dear it will definitely help you

Commissions are typically determined prior to the listing with two sides, a buyer's side and a seller's side. Whether or not you use your own agent will not affect that, it will only affect who is getting paid. I'm speaking specifcally of Ohio here so I am unsure of how or if dual agency is on the books where you are at so.....

If you call me to see a house I have listed and that is the only house I show you and you write an offer on that house, you are a customer....not a client and I am not obligated to represent you. You would represent yourself (which would not be a good thing) and I would be representing the seller. If I show you more than that house, then the responsibilities change.

Check your state's laws regarding agency. Also note, if you've hired an agent to show you many houses and then decide to run to the listing agent after you've seen the house, that could cause some real problems between the agents. If your buyer's agent figures she has reason enough to be the procurring cause, she can contest the commission. Unless she's doing a horrible job and not representing your interests, I wouldn't drop her. She doesn't see a paycheck until the deal is closed and you have the keys and the time that she takes to care for your needs isn't free.

Couple people have said it already - use one (1) agent to show you houses. If you deal with the seller's agent, know that (s)he is legally, morally, and ethically bound to get the best deal for the seller.

You are definitely better off using a buyers agent to represent YOU and your interests. Like others have said, the commission is determined before the home is listed so if there is only one agent involved, that agent just gets paid twice and really doesn't represent either of you to the best of their ability, they can't. Sometimes when homes are listed, there is a clause that if the listing agent finds and represents the buyer AND the seller, the total commission is reduced, but this is something that is written into the listing agreement and it doesn't happen with all or even most listing agreements.