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My mom has passed away. I am the executor of her estate and I am selling her home. Her home is in a small town and unfortunately I decided to go with a local broker/agent there. He is a dual agent for myself and a local buyer. I feel the realtor tried to low ball me on the listing price but I decided any way to list a little higher. Within a week of listing a offer was made by the realtors other client. I feel he tried to low ball the listing price for the buyers benefit. The offer was made and accepted on 1/28 the close by date was 3/3. Inspection on 1/30. Contract was extended to 3/31. Appraisal done 3/10 something minor was needed to be done. We immediately did it. Re_inspection on 3/27. We are past our extended closing date 3/31. Dual agent has yet to ask for us to sign a extension. Buyers approved loan letter expired 4/1. Agent told me on 4/6 that the file was sent to underwriter on 4/2 and we should have a reply 7-9 days after submitted. As long as it comes back ok we can set a date to close. Which is even further past our extended closing date. I have not signed another extension. I feel like everything has been..."expected to do this or that by such & such time and then there is a delay". At this point I feel like re-listing or asking for reduced commission. Opinions?
What are your options? Are there other Realtors in town? Has the house attracted any other buyer interest beyond this one? The answer to these and similar questions should make your decision about signing a contract extension (when/if one is requested) --- or re-listing elsewhere ... relatively easy to make.
If you have other options, you can probably be a little firmer on your decision (ie; tell the Realtor that he has dropped the ball and you do not intend to extend the contract or renew his listing ... without some financial concessions on commissions, etc). On the other hand, if you have no other options, simply shout, "Thank you sir, may I have another!"
My mom passed away and I am the sole executor of her estate. (no spouse, no siblings) Her home is in a small town in Michigan. I decided to go with a local broker/agent there. He is a dual agent for myself and a buyer in that city. I think right from the start the agent was working primarily for the buyer. My thought is that he was in search of real estate for his buyer. Was contacted by us and right from the start tried low balling me on the listing price. I ended up listing a little higher than what he recommended because he had me so concerned if it would appraise which I think they just said that to keep the price low for their buyer. Who knows. The offer was made by his other client within a week of listing. The offer was made and accepted on 1/28 with a close by date of 3/1. Inspection was on 1/30 (came back fine) The contract was extended to 3/31 because we were still waiting on the appraisal. The appraisal was done 3/10 (something minor needed to be done and it was taken care of right away.) Re-inspection by appraiser was on 3/27. We are AGAIN past our extended closing date of 3/31. My Dual agent has yet to ask for a extension. The purchasers loan approval letter expired 4/1. My agent notified me on 4/6 to let me know what was going on. He said the file was sent to the underwriter on 4/2 and we should have a reply 7-9 days after it was submitted. Then as long as it comes back all right we can set a date to close. Everything has escalated from one thing to the next. I feel like every time I am given a date it is ALWAYS inaccurate. I know this can happen but I also feel like our dual agent is not pushing for us to get this done. Like he is dragging his feet. This is twice we are past a expected closing date. Except this time we have not signed a extension. This whole "dual agent" has me feel so uneasy. It was disclosed to me in the purchase agreement and I wish I would not have signed. Too late for that. I am locked in contract with this agent till July because our contract was for 6 months which I am told is typically 3 months. (however, my fault I signed it) I feel like I should tell the agent we are tired of all the delays and feeling like he is not attempting to push things through so we are cancelling the purchase agreement. Then we can re-list or another thought is we could tell the agent we will give a extension if he gives us a reduced commission. Initially we were at 6%. I was advised by someone that typically a dual agent is willing to reduce commission by 1%. Well our agent gave us .5% so now the commission is at 5.5%. I am assuming we can still walk away from this deal since another extension has not been granted. Can we walk if we choose? Is it unreasonable to ask for a reduced commission? Any opinions on this whole scenario and if we should consider these options or any other recommendations? I know this is a winded post and I apologize. I just wanted to do my best to give a overview of the entire situation right from the start. Any advice is GREATLY appreciated!!
My mom passed away and I am the sole executor of her estate. (no spouse, no siblings) Her home is in a small town in Michigan. I decided to go with a local broker/agent there. He is a dual agent for myself and a buyer in that city. I think right from the start the agent was working primarily for the buyer. My thought is that he was in search of real estate for his buyer. Was contacted by us and right from the start tried low balling me on the listing price. I ended up listing a little higher than what he recommended because he had me so concerned if it would appraise which I think they just said that to keep the price low for their buyer. Who knows.
Most likely offering a lower price would be a fast sale. Maybe he was trying to get a bidding war. But most likely he can simply bring the asking price and you would have to sell if "there were no other buyers"
The offer was made by his other client within a week of listing. The offer was made and accepted on 1/28 with a close by date of 3/1. Inspection was on 1/30 (came back fine) The contract was extended to 3/31 because we were still waiting on the appraisal. The appraisal was done 3/10 (something minor needed to be done and it was taken care of right away.) Re-inspection by appraiser was on 3/27. We are AGAIN past our extended closing date of 3/31. My Dual agent has yet to ask for a extension. The purchasers loan approval letter expired 4/1. My agent notified me on 4/6 to let me know what was going on. He said the file was sent to the underwriter on 4/2 and we should have a reply 7-9 days after it was submitted. Then as long as it comes back all right we can set a date to close. Everything has escalated from one thing to the next. I feel like every time I am given a date it is ALWAYS inaccurate. I know this can happen but I also feel like our dual agent is not pushing for us to get this done. Like he is dragging his feet. This is twice we are past a expected closing date.
Sometimes it is out of their hands. But it seems like this guy is just cruising on autopilot
Except this time we have not signed a extension. This whole "dual agent" has me feel so uneasy. It was disclosed to me in the purchase agreement and I wish I would not have signed. Too late for that. I am locked in contract with this agent till July because our contract was for 6 months which I am told is typically 3 months. (however, my fault I signed it) I feel like I should tell the agent we are tired of all the delays and feeling like he is not attempting to push things through so we are cancelling the purchase agreement.
If you're getting your asking price I would try and close and walk. Yeah this guy may be a douche but you're in it for this long if you walk it's just wasted energy. Try to close if you have the patience. I know it hurts to give a comisdion if the guy seems very lackadasical about working for you.
Then we can re-list or another thought is we could tell the agent we will give a extension if he gives us a reduced commission. Initially we were at 6%. I was advised by someone that typically a dual agent is willing to reduce commission by 1%. Well our agent gave us .5% so now the commission is at 5.5%. I am assuming we can still walk away from this deal since another extension has not been granted.
Dual agent should be maybe 4.5% total. .5 % is a joke. Imo he's jerking you around with all the extensions probably because the buyer is aweak buyer and he's trying to get financing. I wouldn't of gone past the one extension then demanded closing or buzz off. On the next contract you don't have to do a dual agent. He's probably going to be a princess about it.
Can we walk if we choose? Is it unreasonable to ask for a reduced commission? Any opinions on this whole scenario and if we should consider these options or any other recommendations? I know this is a winded post and I apologize. I just wanted to do my best to give a overview of the entire situation right from the start. Any advice is GREATLY appreciated!!
I would demand more discounted commission if you go through with it. Personally I would never use actual agent. About as close as I would go is two agents from same broker. A dual agent CANNOT have a fiduciary duty to both buyer and seller equally.
If you're getting your asking price I would try and go through with it only because you're into it for so long. But if you are not getting your price I would not do a dual agent. In fact I would ask for the contract to be cancelled with no future commission claim on the sale of the property
Last edited by Electrician4you; 04-08-2015 at 08:00 AM..
1. Check with an attorney -- from here, it sounds as if they are in default.
2. BUT -- if he is still your listing agent, the listing period may still be in effect. Which means you may still be obligated to him.
3. A 1/2 percent discount for a dual agent?! Around HERE, that's complete and utter b.s. Don't know what is customary around there. Most of the agents I know mark down to 4% with an unrepresented buyer (our company doesn't permit dual agency). They would still get their 3% for the listing side, plus a little extra for organizing the buyer.
4. I would demand a letter from the lender indicating what the holdup is. What you're hearing from your agent may, unfortunately, not be the whole truth. It certainly smells like a financing problem. If it was just underwriting or file transfer, then that's usually just a few days, not an entire month.
5. Sloppy agent, for letting a major deadline slip by like that. That alone would be cause for changing agents.
6. Did the agent share with you what the appraisal came in as?
If he is an agent, and not the broker, I would definitely be making an appointment with the broker ASAP to discuss this problem, and perhaps request a transfer to another agent in the office for the remainder of the listing period. Your listing belongs to the brokerage, not to the individual agent.
But -- let's think about this logically. No one is living in the house right now, right? It's not as if you are waiting on the proceeds from this house before you can buy another house? You have a contract in hand, which I assume is pretty close to what you were asking to begin with. So -- what's another week? If you started all over with a new buyer, it would take another 3-6 weeks, and their inspector may not be as forgiving. :-) I understand being royally ticked off with the agent, and with my temper, I'd probably be about where you are now, looking for a neck to wring. :-) BUT -- that momentary satisfaction may be counter to your real goal of selling the house.
I think everything depends on what the lender says. If they can't provide financing because of lack of cooperation from the buyer, you may have a case for keeping the earnest money. (Was there a pre-approval letter from the buyer when they made the initial offer?) Most contracts give the buyer an out if they can't qualify. Again -- check with a real estate attorney to see what your options are. Sometimes, all it takes is an inquiry from your attorney to get things moving.
Your checklist: Get a letter from the lender. Have an attorney review your options. Talk to the broker.
It sounds as though someone has dropped the ball. Your choice is to either keep going even if it is not technically being done properly or tell your agent that you are out of contract and you want the property back on the market immediately. You might want to talk with an attorney to be sure that you are on firm legal ground but some other things you might consider trying include (if you feel confident that you were too low on the price you accepted and if you feel confident that there are other buyers out there willing to pay more) telling your agent that you will keep going only if the buyer comes up with X more dollars, or if the agent agrees to reduce the fee by X, or you might renegotiate other terms of the contract that are costing you money as they stand now. Those might be things like who pays for closing costs, title insurance, who pays for a warranty, etc. If you are currently paying things like that, you might agree to continue if they pay for those things.
Again, it might be worth the money to consult with a real estate attorney on this to be sure you are on firm legal ground and to get some other ideas.
Thank you so much!!! I really appreciate your input! The purchaser offered our asking price under the condition we pay $2000. towards purchasers closing costs. My husband and I said we were not willing to pay any of their closing costs. The purchaser accepted that and is paying his own closing costs. According to the agent the only costs to us will be his commission, transfer tax to the state and title work. Does this sound right?
He is a dual agent and a broker/realtor. I am not sure what that means or if that makes any difference as far as the commission amount? If we do ask for a lower commission would it be inappropriate to say that we will give the extension under the condition that he lowers his commission to 5% or less?/ I am not sure how to word it. Could I say we a requesting the reduction in commission because of all the delays or what would you suggest??? I do not know what to say. According to him a 5.5% is lower than what he ever takes for these transactions. He said weather he is dual or not there is still the same amount of work involved for him. If we ask for more reduction and he does not give it then can we void the purchase agreement? I want to be reasonable but It is so difficult to be in a contract with a agent who you feel is not really doing anything on your behalf at all and I do not trust him one bit!! I have so much going through my head but I think what would be ideal is if we could get him to come down on his commission and follow through with the deal. If we do not get the reduction then we could walk from the purchase agreement but we are stuck in contract with this agent till July unless he gets frustrated with us and signs a release. ~ I would HIGHLY recommend that people think twice before going with a dual agent!!~
Thank you so much!!! I really appreciate your input! The purchaser offered our asking price under the condition we pay $2000. towards purchasers closing costs. My husband and I said we were not willing to pay any of their closing costs. The purchaser accepted that and is paying his own closing costs. According to the agent the only costs to us will be his commission, transfer tax to the state and title work. Does this sound right?
He is a dual agent and a broker/realtor. I am not sure what that means or if that makes any difference as far as the commission amount? If we do ask for a lower commission would it be inappropriate to say that we will give the extension under the condition that he lowers his commission to 5% or less?/ I am not sure how to word it. Could I say we a requesting the reduction in commission because of all the delays or what would you suggest??? I do not know what to say. According to him a 5.5% is lower than what he ever takes for these transactions. He said weather he is dual or not there is still the same amount of work involved for him. If we ask for more reduction and he does not give it then can we void the purchase agreement? I want to be reasonable but It is so difficult to be in a contract with a agent who you feel is not really doing anything on your behalf at all and I do not trust him one bit!! I have so much going through my head but I think what would be ideal is if we could get him to come down on his commission and follow through with the deal. If we do not get the reduction then we could walk from the purchase agreement but we are stuck in contract with this agent till July unless he gets frustrated with us and signs a release. ~ I would HIGHLY recommend that people think twice before going with a dual agent!!~
Personally, if you got your asking price, I'd just wait to close and be done with it. It seems like you're regretting agreeing to the 5.5% because you learned afterwards that you could've gotten him down to 5. I'm a believer in a deal is a deal. I wouldn't let the .5% get you so upset. It may not be worth the stress to show it again, have another inspection (where more problems could be found), hope they get financed,etc. If this deal falls through? Then by all means, do what you have to do. Maybe try and look at it this way: if another agent had shown it, you'd be out the full 6%. If you pull out of the deal and re list, you're now looking at paying the full 6% since you wouldn't do a dual agency again. This is still the cheapest way to go.
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Advise about my Dual Agent
