Thread: Sorry Mr. and Mrs. FSBO we don`t work for free!

We`re involved with a FSBO that own a duplex located in Ocala,Florida. The original "Agreed Upon" price they wanted to sell their property was $145,000.
The FSBO agreed that we were to be compensated a commission of 2.5% for bringing them a qualified buyer. We located a buyer executed the contract and assisted our buyer in the necessary arrangements of getting this property closed.
We rush to get the appraisal done,unfortunately the appraisal comes in lower than expected.The appraised value is $139,000.
We always place in our contract that if the property doesn`t appraise we can either do one of two things.
1-Renegotiate the price.
2- Buyer has the option to walk if seller doesn`t wish to sell at appraised value.
Our belief is that in a market like we`re experiencing, "Overpaying" for a property isn`t an option.
We informed the Seller of the appraisal, made sure to send them a copy of the certified appraisal and that`s where things start to get UGLY!
The conversation is as follows:

Mr. and Mrs. FSBO. We read the appraisal,although we don`t agree, we`re willing to "move forward" except we won`t pay your commission!
Me: Not paying our commission isn`t an option. We`ve done all the work ,getting this transaction to where it is.
Mr.and Mrs.FSBO: We feel we shouldn`t be the one`s paying for your commission by taking a reduced price!
Me: Have we done everything we promised? It`s not our fault that the appraised value isn`t there, you knew that going into to the transaction, that if it didn`t appraise, we would either negotiate or the buyer would move on!
Mr. and Mrs. FSBO: Why not collect the commission from your buyer? That`s fair!

It`s always fascinating to watch a FSBO at work, they`re either on cloud 9 or they`re somewhere closer to Venus!
In truth no matter what you say or do they always know more.
Whats interesting is, this duplex has been on the market for 7 months with no offers.
The FSBO`s attitude is quite cavalier and they`re taking the wrong approach to closing,which we understand is their right!
My last sentence before hanging up on Mr. and Mrs. FSBO was simple "Mr and Mrs. FSBO we don`t work for free, do you?"....

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I certainly hope you have a signed compensation agreement with them should the seller try to go around you and direct to the buyer, now that they have all the buyers contact info on the appraisal.

Your are in a pickle with this seller. The only resolution is to find another property for the buyer and extract yourself from this FSBO.

This seller had no plans to paying you anyway, and your broker would have to fight it in court, which is rarely the case with such a small commission at stake.

Remember, FSBO's are FSBO's for a reason. "CHEAP"