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It all depends on what way the seller decides to go. Nothing is fixed until you both sign a contract. She may decide to actually list the property to see how much she can get, or she may decide that you pay the whole 3% since that agent did nothing for her.
We've been househunting long distance for over a year and working with an agent there. We even put a house under contract last fall, one week before the election. Then got anxiety and backed out. We're househunting again with her, but haven't yet been back up to view houses.
This is the situation- my son works in that town in the summer and has learned of a house coming to market. It seems like the seller is not working with an agent, at least yet. She says she hasn't advertised it yet and she won't be selling it until early September, but she seems quite happy to have potentially found a buyer. She's given us a price and it's really good for that neighborhood. We've seen pictures of the house on Zillow (and my son actually rented from her for the summer before.)
My question is- how does this work? We'd like to move on this soon, but can our agent handle everything? Who pays the commission? Would asking her to accept 3%, and to split that between us and the seller, be reasonable? Thanks for any insight!
I'd just let go of the Agent, depending on your contract of course, and set about buying your new home after I'd, of course, renegotiate the agents fee...
Koale
Finding the house is the easiest part of real estate.
That's not what's worth the fee these days. Unless at least one of the parties is familiar with writing up the contract, and deciding on inspection and financing addenda, and keeping you informed of your rights and responsibilities at each step of the way, there's much to be decided on still, including the final price.
You haven't really seen the house yet. Trust me, they look different in real life, and there may not be pictures of everything. Plan a trip up to see it, with your realtor, and go from there. The realtor should have ideas on how to approach the fsbo about the fee and how the transaction management could work, it will make it easier for both sides to have someone keeping track of the contract terms and timelines. They're important!
You do not need an agent. A lawyer can handle the buy for you. The buyer has already given you a price so if she says she wants an agent representing her, then tell her not a problem but at the price we discussed. If she wants an agent, let her pay for it.
The agent has put in a lot of work already, including the house we backed out of before. So, while we have bought and sold houses before without an agent, I don't want to do that now. I was thinking that splitting the 3% commission, which would be about $8K, with the seller would be a win win. Seller doesn't have to pay 6% to list the house (and we don't have to face the possibility that a seller's agent would talk her into raising the price she has quoted us), she only has to pay 1.5%. I've seen signs for FSBO's before that say buyers brokers welcome. Does that mean they're willing to pay the buyer's broker a commission?
We're not in the same state as the house we're buying, and the agent knows inspectors, etc. And the seller may not be comfortable doing this without an agent.
That's all well and good, but maybe this buyer didn't want to pay your agent. Maybe she was excited because she didn't intend to have an agent.
Why would it be a good selling point for the seller to pay 50% of the cost of an agent that is
there 100% to look after the interests of the buyer? That doesn't add up.
Because the buyer wants the assistance of the agent, and the buyer brings the deal. Many fsbos understand buyers may have agents, and many offer to pay them out of proceeds. Many like that someone who knows what they're doing will be involved with the paperwork and coordinating the process.
Finding the house is the easiest part of real estate.
That's not what's worth the fee these days. Unless at least one of the parties is familiar with writing up the contract, and deciding on inspection and financing addenda, and keeping you informed of your rights and responsibilities at each step of the way, there's much to be decided on still, including the final price.
You haven't really seen the house yet. Trust me, they look different in real life, and there may not be pictures of everything. Plan a trip up to see it, with your realtor, and go from there. The realtor should have ideas on how to approach the fsbo about the fee and how the transaction management could work, it will make it easier for both sides to have someone keeping track of the contract terms and timelines. They're important!
Laws and customs vary by state. I've only bought/sold houses in California and Hawaii; neither involved a RE attorney, just agents. I gather that in some states, the attorney handles it all.
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hmmm...
