Tranquility7 Posted July 15, 2013 Share Posted July 15, 2013 We have been looking for a house since November. Our market is extremely slow and we have been out several times with our realtor for showings of 1-4 houses at a time (usually just 2, maybe 3 - never like an all day thing, because there is never that much we are interested in seeing. All the houses we have seen are houses we have found ourselves through searching on the MLS system that she set us up on back in November. We have maybe been out with her a total of a dozen times (I doubt even that many, but probably six times in the last month because we have become really motivated). We have not found anything we really like, though we have wrestled a couple of times with whether to make an offer on a couple of houses that were kinda sorta maybes. We haven't ever actually made an offer though. We really like our realtor, and we plan to have her sell our house once we buy another. So our problem is that yesterday we found a For Sale By Owner house that looked intriguing to us. We visited it, and have decided we want to make an offer. The sticky part is, what do we do about our agent?? Do we involve her? We found the house ourselves and visited it ourselves. I don't recall ever signing any papers with her. But we feel like we are being unethical or disloyal or something if we don't involve her. But it is also a lot of money if we DO involve her, and we don't know whether it is worth it. But we also want a good relationship with her, because we do want her to be our listing agent for our house... What thinks the Hive? We want to do the Right Thing but also not spend money foolishly... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tap Posted July 15, 2013 Share Posted July 15, 2013 A Realtor/client relationship is not a friendship, it is business deal. If you are not under contract with her, then you have a few options. 1. handle it all yourself 2. hire a FSBO agent (they take a smaller cut but handle just the paperwork) 3 ask her to cut her fee since you did the leg work to find this house. BUT realize that all the work she has done so far has helped you to whittle down your choices. It isn't just about the house you finalize on, it is about the process you have been through to get to this point. 4. pay her full rate. If she hasn't been aggressive with you buying a house, she will not be aggressive about selling your house. I don't know you situation with her, but unless you want to wait until another client find' your house on their own, then I would be looking for a different Realtor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2squared Posted July 15, 2013 Share Posted July 15, 2013 We are buying and selling right now, and our buying agent is fantastic. We inquired on a FSBO house and toured it without her. We just went back to look at it again, and we took her with us. Dh & i both agreed that her perspective was extremely helpful as we walked through it the second time. She just got done pulling comps for us before making an offer on the FSBO, and having her look at the house makes a big difference in how much advice she is able to offer. Since it is FSBO, she will be doing most of the paperwork (including keeping the seller on track) and all the negotiating. The normal buyer's agent commission is 3%, but she is going to charge us a $1500 flat fee for this house. Like a PP said, a buyer's agent doesn't just find a listing for you to look at. They help whittle down your choices, give advice, point out issues on walk-throughs, pull comps for pricing support, and help negotiate. I think a good agent is worth every penny. Your agent doesn't sound aggressive, so maybe she won't be providing value in the FSBO transaction. Based on my current experience with my buyer's agent, I will not be cutting her out of her commission. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mysticmomma Posted July 15, 2013 Share Posted July 15, 2013 You can also hire a real estate attorney to handle closing. She will still make money from the sale of your home. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TranquilMind Posted July 15, 2013 Share Posted July 15, 2013 We have been looking for a house since November. Our market is extremely slow and we have been out several times with our realtor for showings of 1-4 houses at a time (usually just 2, maybe 3 - never like an all day thing, because there is never that much we are interested in seeing. All the houses we have seen are houses we have found ourselves through searching on the MLS system that she set us up on back in November. We have maybe been out with her a total of a dozen times (I doubt even that many, but probably six times in the last month because we have become really motivated). We have not found anything we really like, though we have wrestled a couple of times with whether to make an offer on a couple of houses that were kinda sorta maybes. We haven't ever actually made an offer though. We really like our realtor, and we plan to have her sell our house once we buy another. So our problem is that yesterday we found a For Sale By Owner house that looked intriguing to us. We visited it, and have decided we want to make an offer. The sticky part is, what do we do about our agent?? Do we involve her? We found the house ourselves and visited it ourselves. I don't recall ever signing any papers with her. But we feel like we are being unethical or disloyal or something if we don't involve her. But it is also a lot of money if we DO involve her, and we don't know whether it is worth it. But we also want a good relationship with her, because we do want her to be our listing agent for our house... What thinks the Hive? We want to do the Right Thing but also not spend money foolishly... If you are not under contract to her and she is only showing you MLS homes, I would simply tell her that I found a house on my own and will be making an offer, but look forward to working with her on the sale of my home,when that time arrives. You could offer a check as a thank you when you close, but make it clear that it is a gift. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catwoman Posted July 15, 2013 Share Posted July 15, 2013 I'm not sure why you feel obligated to involve your agent when you found and visited the house on your own. :confused: It might be different if she was a personal friend or relative and you didn't want to offend her -- then, i could understand sending her a little thank-you gift for her help -- but otherwise, this is nothing more than a business transaction and you don't owe her any money for having shown you a bunch of houses that weren't a good fit for you. Real estate agents show houses all the time, and often, they don't sell anything to the potential buyers. It's a risk of the job. It would be different if she had pointed out the house to you, and then you went behind her back and purchased it through another agent. That would be a weaselly thing to do. But it's not the case here. That said, I wouldn't purchase a house without involving a good real estate attorney -- whether or not I had a good agent. I your situation, I would hire an attorney and call it a day. If you really like the agent, you can let her list your home when you sell it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Posted July 15, 2013 Share Posted July 15, 2013 We are buying and selling right now, and our buying agent is fantastic. We inquired on a FSBO house and toured it without her. We just went back to look at it again, and we took her with us. Dh & i both agreed that her perspective was extremely helpful as we walked through it the second time. She just got done pulling comps for us before making an offer on the FSBO, and having her look at the house makes a big difference in how much advice she is able to offer. Since it is FSBO, she will be doing most of the paperwork (including keeping the seller on track) and all the negotiating. The normal buyer's agent commission is 3%, but she is going to charge us a $1500 flat fee for this house. Like a PP said, a buyer's agent doesn't just find a listing for you to look at. They help whittle down your choices, give advice, point out issues on walk-throughs, pull comps for pricing support, and help negotiate. I think a good agent is worth every penny. Your agent doesn't sound aggressive, so maybe she won't be providing value in the FSBO transaction. Based on my current experience with my buyer's agent, I will not be cutting her out of her commission. It's not just the finding of a house for you, it's helping you get through closing, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Posted July 15, 2013 Share Posted July 15, 2013 We have been looking for a house since November. Our market is extremely slow and we have been out several times with our realtor for showings of 1-4 houses at a time (usually just 2, maybe 3 - never like an all day thing, because there is never that much we are interested in seeing. All the houses we have seen are houses we have found ourselves through searching on the MLS system that she set us up on back in November. We have maybe been out with her a total of a dozen times (I doubt even that many, but probably six times in the last month because we have become really motivated). We have not found anything we really like, though we have wrestled a couple of times with whether to make an offer on a couple of houses that were kinda sorta maybes. We haven't ever actually made an offer though. We really like our realtor, and we plan to have her sell our house once we buy another. So our problem is that yesterday we found a For Sale By Owner house that looked intriguing to us. We visited it, and have decided we want to make an offer. The sticky part is, what do we do about our agent?? Do we involve her? We found the house ourselves and visited it ourselves. I don't recall ever signing any papers with her. But we feel like we are being unethical or disloyal or something if we don't involve her. But it is also a lot of money if we DO involve her, and we don't know whether it is worth it. But we also want a good relationship with her, because we do want her to be our listing agent for our house... What thinks the Hive? We want to do the Right Thing but also not spend money foolishly... Doing the right thing always bounces back to you multiplied, in my opinion. As far as the only showing 2-4 listings at a time....have you been at this a while? I'm working with a young couple right now. At first we had many, many listings to look at. Now we go out once a week and see the three new ones on the market that fit their criteria. In the past month, I've spent seven evenings (roughly from 4pm-8pm) and one Saturday afternoon showing them houses. I've spent several hours on showing days arranging showings, talking with other agents to find out as much as I can about a property before taking the buyers (hot market here so we want to know how many other offers, etc.), and researching new areas they might be interested in. If I were *just* making 12 bucks an hour, I would have much more than $500 'earned.' Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tess in the Burbs Posted July 15, 2013 Share Posted July 15, 2013 We had an agent but found a fsbo house when in a neighborhood one day. He talked to them, we saw and liked the house, he negotiated price on site and drew up papers next day. I think they were happy to have an agent involved. They did pay him a small commission. But they chose their closing agent. Worth a try Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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