Making an offer on a de-listed house?

[Nepenthe]

Thank you very much for the advice everyone!

Very helpful.

[emilybh]

Originally Posted by raising3boys

I would feel more comfortable using the realtor. We saw a FSBO on the website that I wanted to see. Our realtor said, " I will go up to the door and talk them." I was sure glad she did because I had just printed the listing that day and come to find out- the new owners bought the house TWO YEARS prior. FSBO website had their listing still there.

As a seller right now, I would NOT talk to someone who randomly just came up to my door if I would pull it off the market. I am not saying that they wouldn't talk to you,but I just think it would be a trust issue.

Your agent can go up to the door and show her/his card and tell them that a client is interested in their home.

Good luck.

As a former seller who, after I decided to take my property off the market, answered the door to someone who had seen the house when it was on the market and had just sold his home and needed to buy another home and at that time offered 30k more than his original low ball offer when the house was on the market, I DISAGREE with the above advice. I'd answer the door and listen.

In my case I told the buyer that it was really off the market. I had nowhere to move to etc etc. But if you really want to sell, and in today's buyers market, the more you net as a seller (after costs), the more profitable you'll be. Going through a realtor will just reduce your profit. You could pay 1/10 the real estate commission in attorney's fees and have the sale handled better (providing you do the negotiating) just using a lawyer and keeping real estate agents out of the picture. You are also less likely to get the lines of communication mucked up as realtors have been known to do since you are dealing directly with the seller. You don't receive the info 4th hand as you would if the info had to be funneled from the seller to the listing agent to your agent to you. You get the picture!

[emilybh]

Originally Posted by FLBob

One thing to be aware of; most listing agreements will have a clause that states that the owner would be obligated to pay the sales commission for a period following the listing agreement unless sold via another broker.
Since some people may not read the things that they sign the owners may not realize that this obligation could be called if they sold to you directly.
You should have your agent talk with the owners to see if they still have an interest in selling.

True. Or you could contact the seller. Say you need to wait an extra six months-- or however long your agreement with your old agent stipulates (and do this ONLY if the agent had previously contacted anyone regarding this property-- other properties the agent didn't show you are, needless to say, excluded).