Must You Deal With Listing Agent?
I know that many homeowners sign exclusive listing contracts with their listing agent. However, I was under the impression that the agent must be the "procuring cause" of the sale in order to earn a commission.
My question is whether you may contact the seller directly and strike a deal, without using the agent.
Further, would it make a difference if the seller had moved and you tracked them down without calling the agent at all?
Thank you for any help. In this particular case, I noticed that the home was vacant and began to investigate, later a for sale sign went up in the yard. I'd like to avoid using the agent if possible.
The contract will dictacte in this case. I had a guy call me the other day asking me to sell a house for him and he told me it was listed. I told him I wouldnt touch it unless he had permission from the Broker to do so...and he told me he had it and he also explained that because he contacted me and not the other way around, it was legal for me to sell the house for him and not step on any toes. I woul dverify the info with the current owner and go from there.
Good luck
The listing agreement will state what type of listing it is....most are "exclusive right" which means even if the owner finds a buyer, the seller still has to pay the listing agent a commission. And most sellers aren't even aware there is a choice what type of listing they can have. There are agreements that state if the agent finds a buyer he gets the entire commission, if another agent finds a buyer, the commission is split (usually 50/50), if the seller finds his own buyer then no commission is due at all, and many other types of listing agreements. Most sellers don't know that commissions are negotiable, that you can offer a flat rater vs a percentage of sale price, or that you can have a shorter-than-6-month listing agreement (I've seen some that are only for one week!) If you know someone with access to the MLS, it should state what type of listing agreement it is. The MLS is also a great way to find expired listings.
I contact property owners all the time that have their properties listed with an agent. I tell them I am interested in buying their property for all cash and give them my contact info and ask them to call me if their listing expires and the property remains unsold. I explain that if I buy from them direct, they don't have to pay a commission. I can close at their convenience which is great if they are moving into another house and timing is important.
[addsig]
The trick is to know the type of listing the agent has. If the listing is open, then you can go dirrectly to the owner and pay no commission as long as the agent was not the procuring cause. If you negotiate around an exclusive agreement...more power to you, but the owner could get sued by the agent. The contracts state right on them that the commision is negotiable, and most people try for lower commisions, but most agents won't do lower commisions if they are really going to work for the seller. The liability is too high.
Why not work with the agent and negociate. Most really are trying to do a good job for both the buyer and the seller.
Plus what goes around...comes around. What do you want to come around?
Go find a property that is not listed if you want to save the commissions.
I had a listing agreement with an agent to sell my house. We found the buyer, even showed them the house 3 x's! So we were pissed when our agent (who was a friend!) showed up to collect his $2550.00...for doing ZERO.
In my opinion, they need to change some things dealing with this. If you feel your agent didn't do their job, you shouldn't have to pay the commission.
We even called his broker to complain and he was an $#$%.