Is verbal consent binding in WA state? (1%, agent, commission)
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Hi everyone. I lived in WA state, we purchased a single family house last month. Our original agreement with our agent is if he can give us 1.5% rebate we will have him sell our old condo. He gave us 1% rebate eventually because the seller only gave him 2.5% not 3%. For some other reasons we are not happy with him and doesn't want him to sell the condo for us. My question is does the original verbal contract binding? Will he be able to sue us if we hire another agent to sell the condo for us? What is the worse case? Thanks a lot.
The verbal agreement you had is probably not binding; a listing agreement needs to be in writing to be enforceable, at least in the states in which I practice. Highly doubt that WA would be any different in that regard. That being said, you get what you pay for, and any agent that is willing to give up such a significant chunk of their salary to you is probably not a good agent, and you'll end up getting poor service.
The verbal agreement you had is probably not binding; a listing agreement needs to be in writing to be enforceable, at least in the states in which I practice. Highly doubt that WA would be any different in that regard. That being said, you get what you pay for, and any agent that is willing to give up such a significant chunk of their salary to you is probably not a good agent, and you'll end up getting poor service.
You didn't mention whether or not the original agreement included any discussion regarding 3%. I think that aspect of your question is relevant. Also, without knowing the rest of the story, I have to say that the fair thing, in my view, would be for you to give the agent back the rebate so he ends up with 2.5% and you end up with nothing since you don't want to go thru with the second part of your deal. In other words, get back to where you all would have been had no agreement existed.
Since I am not an attorney, I can't comment on the legal aspect of what you agreed to do but I can tell you that you should always, always, always get all agreements written down on paper and signed and dated by all parties.
You didn't mention whether or not the original agreement included any discussion regarding 3%. I think that aspect of your question is relevant. Also, without knowing the rest of the story, I have to say that the fair thing, in my view, would be for you to give the agent back the rebate so he ends up with 2.5% and you end up with nothing since you don't want to go thru with the second part of your deal. In other words, get back to where you all would have been had no agreement existed.
Since I am not an attorney, I can't comment on the legal aspect of what you agreed to do but I can tell you that you should always, always, always get all agreements written down on paper and signed and dated by all parties.
A good suggestion was offered by bbronston--give back the amount of the rebate and go on your merry way.
Ok, let me explain a little bit. First of all, we didn't take any advantage from him. He gives 1% to all of his clients. That's how we found him. Our original agreement was if he could give us that additional .5% we will have him sell our condo. But we didn't get it. Secondly, we contacted him right after we moved out of the condo for pricing strategy. We purchased the condo for 300K and based on our research it worths about 240-250k now. However, he refused to list it that high. He said we should list at 190k and waited for people to bid up the price to 210k. Excuse me?! We contacted other two agents later and both of them thought our price was reasonable. That made us wondering this agent just want the house to be sold quick without any effort because we agreed for a flat selling commission. There are more things we were not happy about him but I don't want to disclose too much personal information here. Lastly, I just wanna say Don't judge! What you said made me very uncomfortable!
Ok, let me explain a little bit. First of all, we didn't take any advantage from him. He gives 1% to all of his clients. That's how we found him. Our original agreement was if he could give us that additional .5% we will have him sell our condo. But we didn't get it. Secondly, we contacted him right after we moved out of the condo for pricing strategy. We purchased the condo for 300K and based on our research it worths about 240-250k now. However, he refused to list it that high. He said we should list at 190k and waited for people to bid up the price to 210k. Excuse me?! We contacted other two agents later and both of them thought our price was reasonable. That made us wondering this agent just want the house to be sold quick without any effort because we agreed for a flat selling commission. There are more things we were not happy about him but I don't want to disclose too much personal information here. Lastly, I just wanna say Don't judge! What you said made me very uncomfortable!
Okay. This additional information casts a whole new light on the subject. Since he operates as a discount agent, the onus was on him to make clear what the rebate amount would be if the buyer agent's commission was less than 3%--and he should have put it in writing. Surely he has encountered that situation before. So...since he did not live up to your verbal agreement, I feel that you are free--both legally and ethically--to seek out the services of another agent, without returning any of the rebate amount. I hope you now feel better. (Sorry, but your original explanation just didn't sit right with me. This one was much better--thanks for the clarification.)
And I agree that it sounds like he's just looking for an easy, quick commission.
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