Real Estate Dilemma? Agent or FSBO?
November 11th, 2009 by admin
our house has been on the market since mid-jan with an agent. we have a 6-month contract, and our agent seems to be doing everything she can to advertise, but the market is slow and we’ve only had 2 showings. we’ve dropped the price 4 times and i don’t know what else we can do.
dad called and said a friend is interested in our house, but wanted to know when our real estate contract is up because they are interested in going FSBO to save on commission. they stopped by and looked in the windows and they like the house. we told them our contract is up mid-july and that we’d be willing to work with them then, if it hasn’t sold by then.
i am having a dilemma here, as the agent has spent time and $ on advertising and such, so am i a terrible person for considering this? some people say it’s wrong to not sell through the agent now that i’ve signed a contract, period. others say to break the contract and snatch up these buyers. i just want to SELL!! any opinions or advice please?!?!
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I am a real estate agent. Here are the ethical options I see that you can take.
1) Wait until your contract is up, and sell to your dad’s friend. The agent did not bring the friend to you, your dad did. Your contract is for the agent to find you a buyer by July. If not, you’re free to find your own.
2) Sell now and pay the agent their commission. But, negotiate out paying the buyer’s broker co-op fee since there wasn’t any other real estate agent involved. Sure, you will end up paying more, but the home will sell quicker – and you have an interested buyer. Also, the agent will make sure the transaction gets completed smoothly.
I am a New York State Licensed Real Estate Agent on Long Island..the market has been so terrible that I went back to work in the fashion industry in Manhattan.
Don’t know what area you live in.
Read the fine print on your contract.
Traditionally, Spring is the best time to put a home on the market, as most people begin looking then, because they want to be settled by the start of the school year in September.
So your contract with the agent runs until mid July. Has she held open houses?
You should be having an open house every weekend ( Saturday & Sunday)
The home should also be advertised in the weekly local papers.
If you have a definite buyer…cut the agent loose.
Tell the agent that it’s not working well and you’ve changed your mind. You can do that.
You can legally sell that home…without any lawsuit from the real estate agency..( this is the important part):
as long as you sell to someone that the agent did not bring around.
If you sell to a person who the agent brought around, you will open yourself up to a lawsuit from the agency.
Since your dad found a buyer for you, then you are legally fine.
Good luck with the sale..and get a good price .
Wow ~ I went through the exact same situation last year. My house was on the market for 6 months and the agent was a friend of mine. We only had 3 showings and not one bite. We dropped the price of the house 3 times and still nothing.
An aquaintance of ours that lived two streets away in the exact house as ours called us and said his sister was interested in the house. Our contract with our realtor had expired, but we verbally gave consent for her to continue to list it. We were honest with the buyer and came up with two prices ~ one for right now with commission to the agent and one for a little later when the agent’s contract expired. Figure out your rock bottom profit from the house and go from there.
In the end, we talked to the agent and had her lower her commission percentage since we were the one’s that found the buyer. Her broker was not happy because it was 3k less than the contracted commission.
It felt awful to do it this way but we finally got out of the house. I would not just break the contract. Some contracts state that if the house sells within a certain timeframe (30-90 days) after the contract expires that the realtor is still entitled to a percentage of the sales price.
Good luck.
You should be loyal to your agent due to the fact you make it sound like she is competent. Tim
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Best Regards
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