The answer is YES!
In this thread, I agonized over whether to can my realtor (Meathead) or not. Strike one.
We reached the end of our contract period with Meathead on the 16th, but we had two possibly interested people that week, so I didn’t sever our tie with him while waiting to see what happened. Nothing happened.
I’ve been listing the house on Craigslist myself, including both my contact info as well as the realtor’s. In fact the interested person he showed it to on the 15th was someone who found it on Craigslist.
Today we got an e-mail from someone who saw the house on Craigslist. She drove past and liked it so she called the realtor’s phone number listed on the “For Sale” sign. He didn’t answer, so she left a message. He never returned her phone call. Strike two.
My husband called him today and told him we had an interested person who wanted to see the house. Meathead told my husband, “Oh, well you know the drill. You can make the arrangements and show it to her yourself. Just let her know that if she doesn’t have an agent she can save some money. If she makes an offer I’ll draw up the paperwork.”
:eek:
Strike three.
I am grateful that he has made what had been something I was agonizing about into a total no brainer.
Also I am on my way to pick up a brand new kitten. Pictures will ensue.
I’d make damn sure this guy was notified that you have terminated the contract. I’d send a certified, return receipt letter, citing the appropriate clause from the contract and stating that the relationship ended on whatever date the contract specifies. He sounds like the type who might come back on you and try to collect a commission on your sale.
You’d better also take down his For Sale sign and put up your own. If anyone who calls his number buys the house, you’ll probably have to pay commission. He could say they saw the sign before the 16th, etc.
Dunno where you are or what the custom is in your neck of the woods, but most places the buyer does not “save money” by not having an agent. The seller pays for the commission unless agreed upon differently in the contract.
If it is the same where you are, he may be trying to also get the end of the commission that the buyer’s representative would get if she had one.
It states in our contract that we must terminate the contract by notifying him by certified mail. The letter will go out tomorrow. We will return his signs to him and put up our own.
In our state the seller is responsible for all agents’ commissions. If the buyer has no agent, ours has agreed to take only the 3% he would get from splitting 6% with the buyer’s agent. This means that we can negotiate a lower selling price reflecting the money we don’t have to pay the other agent.
Honestly, at this point I only care about getting this property off our hands. If we don’t have an agent, we can lower our asking price by another chunk. At this point, every little bit helps. (and the agent apparently does not)
But, as Solfy notes, the seller will act differently depending on whether or not a 6% commission is due. If a buyer can avoid dealing with the agent and thus cause the seller to avoid paying a nasty fee, he’s almost certain to be able to negotiate a lower price.
Sorry - nope! I’ve got a standard suburban lot (0.25 acres?) outside of Pittsburgh with a charmingly updated cape cod sitting empty on it, sucking up all my surplus cash that should be going into winterizing the 200yr old white elephant we’ve moved into.
(and no, I didn’t want to get into the two mortgage situation, but another offer came on the table and we had to drop our contingency or risk losing out on a one in a lifetime house)
But hey, if someone offers me 5 acres in Missouri, I’ll be sure to send them your way!