Question for Realtors

[Derek ATX]

Originally Posted by llkltk

Yes, they are looking for a good price. It was just a weird situation to have to present them with the offer as opposed to them coming to us with a price. You are right markstrub. There will be no broker fees at all. Just closing. Probably if we put it on the market we would have to pay 3% to a buyer's agent if someone had one.

99% of the time the buyer will have a buyers agent so that would be a savings right there. If they want YOU to bring a price to them and they want to buy it from you before you put it on the market then I would bring them the price you are going to list it for. I think this would benefit both parties because you get to save 3% that you would pay the buyers agent, and they get fair price for the house and don't have to worry about quickly putting in an offer before someone else does resulting in a bidding war if it were on the market.

Derek

[markstrub]

Yeah- that's a tempting trap- to not pay sales commission. But if a Buyer's Agent brought you a buyer willing to pay 10% more than your neighbors would pay, what would be the better decision? That's a 7% better deal for you and your family. AND you would have 2 professionals helping to avoid potential pitfalls.

There are so many ways to slice and dice it. Look to your Realtor for guidance. There is something valuable about a slam-dunk deal, but don't kick yourself later.

[Derek ATX]

If you decide to go the route of selling before you list, don't forget to factor in the attorneys fees. You WILL need an attorney if not using a realtor to protect yourself. Texas allows triple damages in law suits involving real estate transactions.

[llkltk]

Our realtor will handle the transaction because he is making commission off the new home we are building. The attorney's fees will be included in our closing costs.

[austin-steve]

Originally Posted by llkltk

Yes, they are looking for a good price. It was just a weird situation to have to present them with the offer as opposed to them coming to us with a price. You are right markstrub. There will be no broker fees at all. Just closing. Probably if we put it on the market we would have to pay 3% to a buyer's agent if someone had one. That's the motivation, to not have to pay a buyer's agent since they don't have one.

As a general rule, I would never "offer" a buyer a price. I'd make them bring a price to the table and start there. I would however let them know what your list price is going to be when you list it.

If you are not careful, you're about to get led around by the nose by someone who won't actually by your house. Seen it a hundred times. Sellers essentially let some uncommitted buyer control the property and the process with based only on the hope they will buy.

Also, who would you rather pay to run the other side of the deal, an experienced agent or an unrepresented buyer? You are essentially hiring the unrepresented buyer to run the other side of the deal and paying them the full commission. What qualifies them for that position and is it in your best interests?

For example, a buyer called my wife (also a Realtor) this weekend on one of our listings. The buyer wanted to write an offer and keep the buyer commission. Sylvia said "no, you need to have an agent. The buyer agent fee is built in and we don't rebate it if you are acting without an agent".

The buyer did get an agent and did write an offer yesterday. Our seller is much better protected having an agent on the other side of the deal, the process is much more predictable, and we avoid doing the missing agent's job without compensation.

Steve