Opinion on buying realtor being the same as selling realtor (sale, lawyer)

[itznin]

I have a realtor that I am using for my house search, his base (office) and most of his own listings are also based in the town in which I am looking in.... which is the reason I am working with him, since he is an expert on the town.

My questions are: What advantages/disadvantages do I face if he sells me one of his own listings? Do I have more bargaining power with him, or do I actually lose some?

I realize that he gets all of the commission therefore would probably push the sale a bit more, and I also realize he may not disclose the small things he normally does when we look at other properties. He seems like an honest guy but at the end of the day money is money...

I'd like to hear everyone's opinion on this matter.

[Alex07860]

I would def not use the agent to represent me if he's representing the seller. You need someone to represent YOU and your needs and your interest. Why subject yourself to the possibility of unethical representation? in the end, I see it as a conflict of interest. Find someone else to represent you.

[itznin]

Kind of weird if I am using him for all my home searches, but then I come across one of HIS that I like and I tell him I'm going to have someone else represent me... ya know?

I understand what you are saying about conflict of interest, that is exactly why I asked. But this whole situation about getting another realtor might rub him the wrong way.... and I'll lose him as a buying realtor and he may just not want to work with my "new" buying realtor.

Don't take what I'm saying out of context, I'm just playing devils advocate as worst case scenario on what he COULD do.

[Alex07860]

He might not like it, but at least see if someone else in his office would represent you, and if he still doesn't like it, try to negotiate his commission down, but I still would not like the agent representing both the buyer & seller.

[imoapie]

Also, another word of caution, if he already showed you the house, I believe he is entitled to the commision whether you use him for the purchase or not. Not really sure how he goes about collecting but i'm pretty sure this is the case.

[BobKovacs]

When we sold our house last year, the agent we listed with also ended up being the agent that brought in the buyer, and it worked out just fine for us.

Something to bear in mind here- while you may think that the agent who's showing you homes is "working for you", if you really read the contracts, their first responsibility is really to the seller (who's paying their commission). They can talk all they want about how they're "doing everything they can to get you a great deal", but the contractual language slants toward the seller- the only way to avoid that is to use a true "buyer's agent", and you pay his/her commission in that case- not the seller.

[shishu]

agree with the previous post. No realtor really has it in their interest to look out fo rthe buyer... as commission is based on sale price. Make sure you have an independent and strong attorney. That can help a lot.

[itznin]

Well I don't have any attorney right now.... but I would find one when it came down to the contractual negotation process of attorney review, inspection, etc. I would use a person I found not someone my realtor recommended to me. Is that okay or do I need an attorney right from the door?

Can someone clarify the rules on if a realtor shows a house if they are entitled to a commission from the sale?

How about if I have two realtors and I get the listings from one agent via their e-mail alerts but use another agent to actually do the showings?

I still think I'd be at a conflict of interest even if I use someone else from his group to represent me.... I'm sure he wouldn't like this, after all he is losing HALF of the commission.

I do realize that the realtor isn't working directly for me but if he's the buying agent and the seller already has their selling agent, wouldn't the buyer be in MY best interest? Or at the end of the day they just want to get the deal done and sway toward the seller anyway?

[RobRiguez]

When I was looking for a house we signed a contract with the sellers agent to also represent us. I didnt like it at first but it seemed fair. I had my lawyer look it over before i signed. In the end we had trouble comming to terms beause, in my opinion the realtor was just being greedy and had to break the contract and go with someone else. (we have already beaten this horse to death here on this board so im not going to tell my story again) Just make sure you are protected because when it comed to houses in NJ were talking THOUSANDS of dollars difference if someone is not looking out for YOU.

[BobKovacs]

See my comments in bold below.

Originally Posted by itznin

Well I don't have any attorney right now.... but I would find one when it came down to the contractual negotation process of attorney review, inspection, etc. I would use a person I found not someone my realtor recommended to me. Is that okay or do I need an attorney right from the door? You don't need one right now, but it'd be good to start looking and contact one to have them ready to go once you submit an offer.

Can someone clarify the rules on if a realtor shows a house if they are entitled to a commission from the sale? If a realtor shows you a listing, he/she is entitled to the commission, since he/she was the "procuring cause" that brought about the sale- it's pretty simple, really.

How about if I have two realtors and I get the listings from one agent via their e-mail alerts but use another agent to actually do the showings? That's not really cool. Why would you want to use two agents in the first place, unless you're looking in two different areas and want to use agents who know those local areas? In that case, don't use agent "A" to look at listings that agent "B" provided- it's just not right, and if the agent who provided the listing finds out that you went to contract on a listing they emailed, they'd likely try to show procuring cause and get a piece of the commission (and rightly so).

I still think I'd be at a conflict of interest even if I use someone else from his group to represent me.... I'm sure he wouldn't like this, after all he is losing HALF of the commission. Nope, he won't but life's tough that way sometimes. If he brought you to see the listing originally, he'll likely get a piece of the selling agent side of the commission anyway.

I do realize that the realtor isn't working directly for me but if he's the buying agent and the seller already has their selling agent, wouldn't the buyer be in MY best interest? Or at the end of the day they just want to get the deal done and sway toward the seller anyway? You'd think they'd be working in your best interest, but read the language- you'll quickly see otherwise.