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It is lengthy but long story short, was poorly represented by a listing agent/broker for 9 months..tried everything to get results and finally canceled our contract 30 days early per an unconditional withdrawal on May 31. I am in the process of interviewing new listing agents, but as of right now the home/listing has been withdrawn from the market. Yesterday, June 1, I receive a call from a BA that has shown my house several times before asking for a one time showing to her clients as she is aware it has been withdrawn from the market...I agree and let her show. Well, low and behold, her clients love the house and were ready to make an offer, however, they decided to finish looking at the houses they have scheduled for today. While on the phone with this BA she tells me do not sign anything with anyone..I can represent you both and be a dual agent...I have been in the business for a long time and have been a dual agent several times before..nothing new to me.
Okay, so I have not signed a contract with anyone...why would I want her to represent me...how could she possibly be looking out for my best interest while working for her buyers???
So basically, my question is how hard is it to or is it a good idea to represent myself in this matter? From some very quick research I have found that really the only part (minus the marketing and helping to sell my home) of the SA when it comes to the offer is the negotiation..working as my manager basically. Is this true?
Is there any paperwork that I would have on my part to come up with not being represented by a Realtor?
Would it be a good idea to offer her say 1% on top of her already 3% to make sure all the paperwork is taken care of on my part, to protect myself?
I have been in the business 25 years and don't advise anyone to be or use a DUAL agent. How can you possibly work for 2 people at the same time? Prior to 1992 everyone worked for the seller - agent or sub-agent. When they came up with the idea for Buyer agents and Seller agents, those agents who wanted to "double pop" their own listings got upset because they didn't want to lose the money. That's when they came up with dual agency.
I believe that dual agency is a law suit waiting to happen. In the best case scenario, if she has been working with these buyers and trying to get them the best price, how can she get you the HIGHEST PRICE? What will happen with the negotiations with the home inspection??? What if there are mortgage or appraisal issues? If the appraisal comes in low, will she fight to get it higher? How can she if she owes allegiance to the buyers as well.
Do yourself a favor....get SOMEONE who is REPUTABLE to represent your interests. You can offer to pay them 1% to represent you. Since they don't have to invest any money, just some time, you should be able to get someone good.
Moderator cut: no soliciting, please
Good luck with all.
Contact your old agent/broker. If this transaction flies it was started with them.
The reason that I ended the contract with my original listing agent is because I stopped making excuses for her and realized that she wasn't doing a good job. How am I supposed to be confident in her representing us in negotiations if I am not confident in her skills as an agent. Oh, and not to mention the fact that she told me herself 2 weeks ago..that she was having a bad week because 2 of her contracts fell thru because of the negotiations. I understand she invested "some" time and money in the advertising of our home and I am contemplating "if" this offer completes sending her a $500 gift card of some sort as a referral payment...I think that is being way more than fair.
I have been in the business 25 years and don't advise anyone to be or use a DUAL agent. How can you possibly work for 2 people at the same time? Prior to 1992 everyone worked for the seller - agent or sub-agent. When they came up with the idea for Buyer agents and Seller agents, those agents who wanted to "double pop" their own listings got upset because they didn't want to lose the money. That's when they came up with dual agency.
I believe that dual agency is a law suit waiting to happen. In the best case scenario, if she has been working with these buyers and trying to get them the best price, how can she get you the HIGHEST PRICE? What will happen with the negotiations with the home inspection??? What if there are mortgage or appraisal issues? If the appraisal comes in low, will she fight to get it higher? How can she if she owes allegiance to the buyers as well.
Do yourself a favor....get SOMEONE who is REPUTABLE to represent your interests. You can offer to pay them 1% to represent you.
Good luck with all.
I strongly advise you to contact the agent you terminated with and ask her to represent you for this transaction only for 1%. You really need someone on your side. You can have a listing agreement for 30 days or one particular transaction. Then, I suggest you tell the buyer's agent that you intend to put the house back on the market within a couple of weeks (give a clear deadline)! You won't want to wait forever for these buyers to make an offer - and who knows if it's going to even be a good offer (let's hope it's a good one!)
Best wishes.
Don't forget to go back and review your previous contract. Some of them have gotcha's in there, e.g., you may be liable for commission should you sell within a given period of time. I've never done it, but it's on our pre-printed listing forms and I know some of the big franchise brokers here use it. Good luck on selling. I hope you get a qualified buyer soon!
I have been in the business 25 years and don't advise anyone to be or use a DUAL agent. How can you possibly work for 2 people at the same time? Prior to 1992 everyone worked for the seller - agent or sub-agent. When they came up with the idea for Buyer agents and Seller agents, those agents who wanted to "double pop" their own listings got upset because they didn't want to lose the money. That's when they came up with dual agency.
I believe that dual agency is a law suit waiting to happen. In the best case scenario, if she has been working with these buyers and trying to get them the best price, how can she get you the HIGHEST PRICE? What will happen with the negotiations with the home inspection??? What if there are mortgage or appraisal issues? If the appraisal comes in low, will she fight to get it higher? How can she if she owes allegiance to the buyers as well.
Do yourself a favor....get SOMEONE who is REPUTABLE to represent your interests. You can offer to pay them 1% to represent you. Since they don't have to invest any money, just some time, you should be able to get someone good.
Moderator cut: no soliciting, please
Good luck with all.
In Texas there are no duel agents! There is a very good reason for that.
What we have instead, in Texas, is Intermediary. What that means is, since all listing and buyer's rep agreements are with the broker, not the individual agents, one of the broker's agents could have a buyer for whom a house that another of the broker's agents (or the same one, but let's keep this simple) has listed is perfect, and at that point the broker would be representing both parties. When that happens, intermediary (the way Texas deals with the problem) kicks in, and the following (From the TREC form, Information on Brokerage Services) happens:
A broker who acts
as an intermediary in a transaction:
(1) shall treat all parties honestly;
(2) may not disclose that the owner will accept a
price less than the asking price unless authorized in
writing to do so by the owner;
(3) may not disclose that the buyer will pay a price
greater than the price submitted in a written offer
unless authorized in writing to do so by the buyer; and
(4) may not disclose any confidential information or
any information that a party specifically instructs the
broker in writing not to disclose unless authorized in
writing to disclose the information or required to do so
by The Texas Real Estate License Act or a court
order or if the information materially relates to the
condition of the property.
So, while we don't have dual agency, we have something very similar. All parties do have to agree to it at the time they sign their respective contracts with the broker, however, and are notified in writing if the situation arises. Don't know if other states have this requirement.
OP, you'll need to see if your listing agreement contains a protection period indicating that if the house is sold to someone whose attention the listing agent brought it to (and a prior offer would be pretty solid evidence that the listing agent did, indeed, do that) within a certain number of days, the listing agent gets paid their commission. If you do hire a new agent to deal with this offer, you'll want to in all fairness inform them of the entire situation so that they will know that there might be a procuring cause indicating that the prior agent gets paid.
This entire mess of agency is a perfect example of legislation from the bench. How we ever got to having dual agency is one more example of lack of personal responsibility. I actually like the Kentucky Auctioneer law, the auctioneer states clearly to the buyers that he/she is an agent of the seller, but is bound by law to provide fair play to the buyers. Implied agency, which is the root of the court case which changed all this, is a grossly misused claim by those who didn't take the time to understand the home buying process. I recognize the short-comings of what I have said, but understand the point before throwing counter points.
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very good advice
