OT - Any DIS realtors in the house?

[wrighter]

My family and I are looking for a larger home in our township. We're "plugged in" to the current market - we know what we're looking for and the various price ranges that may or may not meet our needs. We have met with a realtor who we like and have verbally agreed to work with as we move forward. She gave us a very detailed run down of what we could expect to get for our current home, and occasionally sends us links of homes that have come on the market that we might be interested in. That has been the extent of our interaction with her.

My question is this: How should we proceed if we find a home that is "For Sale by Owner?" We have learned of two homes that we might me interested in - whose owners have not retained a realtor and are hoping to avoid paying realtor"s fees - 6% is normal for our area. If we were to work with these owners and come to an agreement with them, how does our realtor fit in? Or does she at all? I don't want any bad karma, you know?

If anyone out there has any insight or advice, we'd sure be grateful. We've only ever purchased new construction, so we have little experience with realtors. Thanks!

 

[The_Princess's_Mommy]

Yes, I'm a DIS Realtor

First, I commend you on being pro-active with your question. Many buyers do not take their Realtor into consideration when beginning the states of looking at for sale by owners (FSBO). I wish there were more loyal buyers like you.

Before contacting a FSBO, you should let your realtor know that you have interest in that particular house (or houses) that are FSBO. That does 2 things - it keeps your realtor informed that you are looking other places than multiple listings, and it also allows them the opportunity to still represent you in the sale. Your realtor will then contact the FSBO directly on your behalf. 9 times out of 10, the FSBO will cooperate with your realtor, meaning they will pay a partial commission if and when the sale between you and the FSBO closes. In this market I have not run into any FSBOs that don't cooperate with realtors (they want to get their house sold!). And a realtor bringing a qualified buyer is an excellent way to save money by only paying 1/2 commission.

If that particular FSBO is in the minority that will not cooperate with realtors, your realtor will then step out of the picture, and let you and the FSBO deal directly with each other. Again, this is VERY unusual in this market, as most FSBOs are more than happy to work with buyer's realtors.

The worst thing you can do is keep your realtor in the dark, then have them find out one way or another that you went behind their backs for one reason or another. Realtors are people too, and we don't like being treated disrespectfully. Treat your realtor like you would want to be treated. Again, I commend you for being proactive and asking your question upfront.

Please PM me if you have any more questions. I've been a realtor for 6 years in central NJ, so I can certainly give you unbiased opinions.

Best of luck!

 

[Darcy03231]

I'm not a realtor but my parents sold their home FSBO. In our area its not unusual for FSBO's to advertise that they will pay a commission to a realtor, usually 2-3%. My parents put right in their ad that realtors were welcome at 2%. Since their home was in a very desirable area of our town where not much is for sale they had several realtors come and bring people through. Had one of their clients bought the home they would have had no problem paying the commission.

 

[mommyrants]

If you want a Realtor to facilitate the sale, and value their advice, then you should let your Realtor know. That said - if you are comfortable doing it yourself, or have a good real estate attorney - I think it's fair to FSBO on your own if you have not signed anything with the original Realtor.

 

[wrighter]

Thanks, everyone, for your thoughts on this one. To be honest, I'm not entirely sure how we'll proceed. Both of our FSBO options know about us, and want to connect, but we have yet to do so. I was thinking I would connect with the owners, and prior to seeing the properties feel them out on the whole Realtor thing to see where they stand. I certainly don't intend to leave my Realtor in the dark or mislead her, but will just take it one step at a time.

Maybe neither home will be "it" for us and I won't have to worry about it anyway.

 

[wmharley]

If that particular FSBO is in the minority that will not cooperate with realtors, your realtor will then step out of the picture, and let you and the FSBO deal directly with each other. Again, this is VERY unusual in this market, as most FSBOs are more than happy to work with buyer's realtors.

The worst thing you can do is keep your realtor in the dark, then have them find out one way or another that you went behind their backs for one reason or another. Realtors are people too, and we don't like being treated disrespectfully. Treat your realtor like you would want to be treated. Again, I commend you for being proactive and asking your question upfront.

I've told my clients straightup, that I can help them with FSBOs, but if the FSBO don't offer a compensation, then the buyer's would. They've all been cool with that or i don't show them the house.

And i endorse the comment to not keep them in the dark. Too many people try to be sneaky and go around realtor's backs for the slightest things thinking they can save big $$$.

worst 2 things I had was some friends (sold their 1st house for a great deal and got them another one). they had financial issues and had to sell that house later. I took the listing, but they didn't want to lower the price down. 6 months later they left me to someone else and lowered the price and it sold 2 weeks later. They said they would still go with me to buy a house. but they didn't and ultimately bought at a new community, where I could have gotten them $10,000 less than they paid for it.

Another was a someone else who had looked for a house. they had a very low budget and wanted to look at fixeruppers. i suggested Townhouses but they said no. so 2 months are spent looking for a house that doesn't exist in their price range in the condition they want (fixerupper price- move in ready condition). I was slated to go on a long standing vacation. i tell them and say how about townhouses now? They say ok. I tell them I'll contact places and when I return (a week) we will go and look at them, or I will send them to the places with my contact at some new communities. when I return, they tell me (after I call them), they already put in a contract. I ask when and where, and it was with a community same as the one above where I could have saved $10K for my friends. I do some snooping and they had another realtor working for them behind the scenes for almost the same time as I was and she got the credit.

Its one thing to have a client and honestly never find what they are looking for. its another thing to waste time and effort, where the buyers know in advance, but the Realtor doesn't, that they will never finalize anything with you and were just using you.

 

[Sanchez]

Yes, I'm a DIS Realtor

First, I commend you on being pro-active with your question. Many buyers do not take their Realtor into consideration when beginning the states of looking at for sale by owners (FSBO). I wish there were more loyal buyers like you.

Before contacting a FSBO, you should let your realtor know that you have interest in that particular house (or houses) that are FSBO. That does 2 things - it keeps your realtor informed that you are looking other places than multiple listings, and it also allows them the opportunity to still represent you in the sale. Your realtor will then contact the FSBO directly on your behalf. 9 times out of 10, the FSBO will cooperate with your realtor, meaning they will pay a partial commission if and when the sale between you and the FSBO closes. In this market I have not run into any FSBOs that don't cooperate with realtors (they want to get their house sold!). And a realtor bringing a qualified buyer is an excellent way to save money by only paying 1/2 commission.

If that particular FSBO is in the minority that will not cooperate with realtors, your realtor will then step out of the picture, and let you and the FSBO deal directly with each other. Again, this is VERY unusual in this market, as most FSBOs are more than happy to work with buyer's realtors.

The worst thing you can do is keep your realtor in the dark, then have them find out one way or another that you went behind their backs for one reason or another. Realtors are people too, and we don't like being treated disrespectfully. Treat your realtor like you would want to be treated. Again, I commend you for being proactive and asking your question upfront.

Please PM me if you have any more questions. I've been a realtor for 6 years in central NJ, so I can certainly give you unbiased opinions.

Best of luck!

I disagree with most of this and it is certainly written from a pro-realtor perspective. In this case, should you choose to contract one of these properties, the realtor will have done very little to facilitate the transaction. You are better served by having a lawyer prepare the contract. You have not signed an agreement with the realtor and owe them no duty in this situation.

Many owners selling without an agent do not want and possibly will not accept payment of a commission. This is information you need to determine by speaking directly with the owner. Remember, realtors are paid commission based on the sales price and have very little incentive to negotiate the lowest possible purchase price. In any event, the seller is likely to factor in the commission when ultimately deciding on a sale price.

Further, in many instances they could attempt to lead you away from your best option to an option which produces a significant commission.

 

[wmharley]

Further, in many instances they could attempt to lead you away from your best option to an option which produces a significant commission.

A good Realtor will give you too many listings to pick and choose the top commissions. They shouldn't also give their own opinions as to which they like in order to not appear biased.

When my clients ask my opinion which I like, I tell them I cannot tell them that, and just give pros and cons. I let THEM choose if they like the house.

I have sold a house where I got 1.5%, so not showing low commissions doesn't hold true the majority of times, I'd say.