Thread: need advice on my situation...

I have had my house on the market with an agent for 3 months, and I have 3 more to go with him. He talked me into 6 months from the start. He almost made double commission because he had a family member that was interested and had me sign something that said it was ok that he represented both me and the buyer. He didn't tell me anything about the situation or how much the offer was until he got me in his office with a pen and prepared documents. He is a retired cop, with excellent 1 on 1 influencial skills, and I am the kind of person that thinks 'no' but says 'yes' because I don't like confrontation at all. Well the financing for the buyer didn't come through.

Well now my brother and his wife really want to buy my house. I would feel bad about waiting for the listing to run out if my agent was hurting financially, but he is not, and blood is thicker than water. I just want to walk away from my house breaking even, and my brother and his wife are 21 and they have two kids.

So my question is he entitled to anything if I wait until the listing with him is over? If I do is it unethical of me to do so? I don't know if it matters but this is all taking place in Michigan.

Thank you in advance for taking the time to respond, and have a happy new year!

If the agent didn't bring the buyer, there shouldn't be any issues with you waiting till your contract expires, then selling to your relative. You can typically get out of a contract early by paying whatever the agreed cancellation fee was. So perhaps you will just need to reimburse for all advertising done on your home, which may be nothing or it could be $1,000; you would need to speak with the agent's broker to determine what the cost is for early termination of the contract.
You should also consider though, that there is a lot of work behind-the-scene involved with selling a home. Even though you are selling to a relative, unless you are comfortable handling all aspects of the transaction, you should still have a Realtor handle the transaction.

And even if your agent brings a potential buyer, you don't have to accept any offer unless the offer match your listing agreement.

Originally Posted by Codythebest

And even if your agent brings a potential buyer, you don't have to accept any offer unless the offer match your listing agreement.

If the agent brings a buyer who offers EXACTLY what you have listed, you could be responsible to pay the agent's commission, as the agent has performed.

Bis Repetita

Originally Posted by Codythebest

Bis Repetita

Meaning of this?

Todd,

Classic situation I have seen many times. Having been an agent in the US for 6 yrs I would say in this instance it is just good business for him to release you from the contract. Especially for the sake of future referrals.
I would 1st kindly explain the situation to him, let him know you appreciate his work and time and would love to use him in the future however he needs to cancel the listing agreement.
ANy good agent knows that if a seller is unhappy with him even if he brings new full price offer you can be such a pain that the deal will never close and he will still not get paid and will have only wasted more time and made 2 new enemies and created a bad name for himself.

The other comment was correct that you only need to wait till contract has expired to sell to your brother, meanwhile he should begin to arrange financing etc which will take some time anyway...

I normally always recomend using a realtor even when buying from a private owner, though in this situation you would be simply wasting your money. INstead hire a good attorney to do the title work and closing, they ought to cut you a break on their other services and will often draft the contracts for free.

Would love to hear how you are getting on. If you call me on FL 407.965.1382 (Please leave a message) I would be happy to give you some other good pointers for dealing with this.