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We have a buyer's agent but no exclusive representation contract with her. We made an offer on a house that we found ourselves and after some negotiations, an offer was accepted. We went as far as signing all the necessary paperwork (at least we thought) but not yet sending the earnest money check (we are out of state). We thought we sent them everything and was waiting for the contract to be signed by the seller. The morning after we submitted our signed contract, our agent tells us they need to change the seller's name on the contract (house is being sold through relocation company) and they also need us to sign an additional document she will send us. Long story short, we have issues with our agent and think she is not working in our best interest (too many reasons to list). She senses our feelings too and asked us if we want to continue and sign the updated contract or we can break our agent/buyer relationship and retract the offer.
We prefer not to work with her anymore and since she is OK with that, we are going to retract our offer. The house has been vacant and on the market since last December and the price has dropped 5 times. Our offer was all cash with a quick (one month) close. We are willing to walk away from the house right now. However, if a few weeks go by and the house is still active, can we go directly to the listing agent and make our original offer? Will they care? I think the relocation company probably wants to sell the house quickly and I know for a fact there have been many showings throughout the months and even the past week, but obviously no other accepted offers (which means either no offers made at all, or they were lower than ours).
The "procuring clause" is a fancy way of saying the buyers agent is going to get paid whether they are actively involved or not. Unless the listing agent can prove that you were aware of the property and was going to make offer with the buyers agent that agent will be paid if you close on the house.
Why do yo think you'd be better off with a buyer's agent? In my experience people who feel that way end up with a heap of problems that all stem from a "this is not that hard" sort of ego-centrism, and to a certain extent there is some truth to fact that representing buyers is NOT like going to court and defending some murder case or doing brain surgery, but there are LOTS of ways that buyers agents can make the whole process go much more smoothly...
Thanks for bringing up the procuring clause. That might open another can of worms. The first time I saw the house, it was before it was listed. My parents live across the street and knew from their neighbors that they were relocating. The listing agent at the time happened to be the seller's next door neighbor. So she went with me to the house and I took a look while the sellers were in the midst of packing. I didn't like the house very much and it was way overpriced at this time.
A couple months later I visited my parents again and my mom wanted me to see the house again empty. The neighbor who lived next to the house was still the listing agent at that time and showed it to me a second time. I still wasn't interested.
Now several months later, the listing agent of the house has changed; it is no longer the neighbor next door. The price has dropped multiple times and I decided to make a low offer through my buying agent (recently referred by a relative). Does the procuring clause affect the original listing agent who showed me the house the first and second time? I never thought if she could be due any commission but now I'm wondering.
The reason we'd like to go directly to the new listing agent is because we want to cut out the middleman and speed up the process, esp since we are also dealing with a relocation company. If we re-offer, it will be our final offer and they can accept it or not. We are aware of all the terms since we've already seen/signed the contract and rider. I even had inspection appts lined up assuming the contract would be signed the next day. At this point, I guess I'm not sure how another buyer's agent would benefit us.
I wasn't referring to commissions in that statement but to speeding up the process and getting direct answers. I've asked our buyer agent questions and sometimes she says she doesn't know and neglects to follow that up with "but I'll find out". When we ask her to find the answer to our question, she will ask the listing agent. We'd rather ask ourselves.
The listing agent is under no obligation to answer any question from the buyer, especially if those answers would expose the seller to a materially lesser offer...
She senses our feelings too and asked us if we want to continue and sign the updated contract or we can break our agent/buyer relationship and retract the offer.
This is a business transaction. Is it possible that what she senses is uncertainty about buying this property? Agents do not walk away from a transaction in play.
Just curious about the agenda, here.....Just speculating here....sounds like you might be interested in getting a piece of that commission for yourself. Maybe the listing agent will kick back? Or what the heck, cut all the agents out and deal with the Relo Company.
The Relocation Company owns the property and does not know diddley about it. They do not deal with the general public.
The listing agent knows you made an initial offer via another agent. She will see the "procurring cause" thing coming right at her. She is not going to be in a position to " help you out".
I wasn't referring to commissions in that statement but to speeding up the process and getting direct answers. I've asked our buyer agent questions and sometimes she says she doesn't know and neglects to follow that up with "but I'll find out". When we ask her to find the answer to our question, she will ask the listing agent. We'd rather ask ourselves.
The reason we'd like to go directly to the new listing agent is because we want to cut out the middleman and speed up the process, esp since we are also dealing with a relocation company. If we re-offer, it will be our final offer and they can accept it or not. We are aware of all the terms since we've already seen/signed the contract and rider. I even had inspection appts lined up assuming the contract would be signed the next day. At this point, I guess I'm not sure how another buyer's agent would benefit us.
Relocation Companies take time to respond to inquiries. In many cases they are using a middleman who uses another middleman, the listing agent who relies on a buyer's agent to bring in a ready, willing and able buyer, like you. It takes time to cut through the red tape. And there is rarely red tape between agents. They both want to get the deal done.
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