Do buying and selling agents ever conspire to make a profit? (1%, negotiation)
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If the buyer is paying attention and has seen several houses he knows roughly what properties are worth. So the potential for persuading him to pay more than market is not very great, maybe 5% or so. As noted the amount gained by the agents is not great and the chances of blowing the deal are not small.
Now conspiring to hide defects- this could come back on the buyer. The buyer does not want to lie on disclosures.
I have been involved in well over 300 Realtor based real estate transactions and have not ever witnessed such a thing. Not even a hint of something like that has happened. What does happen all the time is agents reducing the commission in an effort to get both parties to the closing table in the event of a lower than contract price appraisal or even a repair on the home as a condition of financing on the appraisal. I have witnessed that a bunch of times.
Does this ever really happen? Do buying and selling agents ever work together behind the scenes to dupe a buyer so that they can get an increased profit to share, or is this just paranoia? Anyone ever experienced this, or heard of it?
thanks
I would say this occurs no more or less than when two divorce attorneys hired from the same city know each other. Most would never risk their licensure and ability to earn a living, but some people get bold when they get a little too comfortable and bad apples make themselves known.
Not to minimize this behavior, I'm certainly not implying the occurrence is a fraction of a percent or smaller. In a small town, litigation between two residents using two local attorneys may very well have a standard "song and dance" or course of action regardless of how many billable hours actually go into each case.
At the end of the day, if the services rendered have mutually helped both (all 4?) parties involved to get a better outcome than would result without representation or agency, would anyone cry conspiracy?
In the age of Zillow, why do you even need a "buying agent"? You can find your own houses online and, especially if it's not your first rodeo, negotiate the deal yourself.
In a purchase transaction, it turned out our agent and the seller's agent were in the same office. The seller's agent was the "Alpha Dog." Our agent rolled over and played dead all the time. I don't think it was conspiring to maximize sales price; I think our agent was afraid of getting on the wrong side of the seller's agent. Our transaction was just a transaction to her - but she has to work with the Alpha Dog seller's agent for years to come.
During negotiation, we'd tell our agent "ask for XYZ" and our agent would respond "Alpha Dog won't go for that." We'd say "Alpha Dog is just the seller's agent; we want the question to go to the seller." "Alpha Dog won't go for that," she would repeat.
In the age of Zillow, why do you even need a "buying agent"? You can find your own houses online and, especially if it's not your first rodeo, negotiate the deal yourself.
Sorta. But you have to realize the agent who might appear to be working for you since they are handling paperwork, etc. is actually NOT working for you... and is working for the seller.
Sorta. But you have to realize the agent who might appear to be working for you since they are handling paperwork, etc. is actually NOT working for you... and is working for the seller.
Meaning what? That they might purposely mess up the paperwork if they weren't representing you? I don't think anyone could legally/ethically do that. In fact, buyer and seller can totally make a deal on their own, hiring a realtor JUST to handle the final paperwork.
Last edited by otterhere; 02-11-2019 at 03:21 PM..
Every time I see one of these goofy threads, I wonder if many of the participants actually have ever bought or sold a property.
Bought five, sold four. Used a realtor for only a couple of them.
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