Need advice on Cancelling Home seller agent contract (Chicago, Bloomington: sales, real estate) - Illinois (IL) - City-Data Forum

enthusha · 07-15-2009, 11:19 AM

Hi:
I have listed my home in Bloomington,IL with an MLS agent for 6%. This is a 4 months contract and I had just completed with 2 months. So far I have not received any offer yet. Surprisingly, one of my friend is moving to Bloomington and very much interested in my home. Here is the situation, she will be ready to buy my home only after 2 months (she got an offer in her home and closing her home in 2 months) but have to move in before the school season starts for her kids. She like to give an offer with the closing date after 2-3 months from now but want to move in soon and pay the rent till the closing date. My buyer is flexible with the closing date and is not working with a buyer agent. So my question is, is it possible to cancel the contract with my seller agent, take my home out of market, sign an offer with my buyer with an extended future date and let her move in and receive the rent till that time? If YES, can I close my home without any agent commission as I found the buyer without even the MLS listing/ads? If NO, how much can I bargain? As my home will become a rental home for 2-3 months, where can I find zonal laws about my sub division?

Thanks a lot for your advice.

Jeff Hill · 07-15-2009, 03:38 PM

You need to read over your listing contract very carefully. Agents are protected from exactly what you are talking about. When your house is listed, and a buyer is found, commission goes to your agent (Doesn't matter who found the buyer).
However, there are two sides to the commission. You said that your are paying 6%. More than likely, your agent keeps 3% of that and the other 3% would go to the buyer’s agent. In your case, there is no buyer agent. Therefore, your agent should negotiate your fees down. If your agent refuses to work with you, talk to his/her Broker (that's their boss). Tell the Broker your situation and I'm sure they would be willing to work something out.

If you want to pay nothing, your house would have to be "off the market" for 6-12 months. Again, that should be stated somewhere in your listing agreement.

All of your zoning laws can be found at your county courthouse.

Good Luck.

Anthera · 07-15-2009, 04:45 PM

I think that you should have no problem taking the house off market and then renting and selling. This would be a good time to get a lawyer to look over your contract though. The 6 month waiting period referenced by the other poster would refer to prospects who saw your house while it was listed by the agent.

doll lady · 07-16-2009, 05:22 AM

Be sure to read your listing contract and see if there is an absolute binding clause concerning termination. I have heard of these type in the Chicago area.

Since you only have two more months, I would consider renting it to your friend with no mention of a possible sale (to your friend) to your real estate broker/agent. Tell the real estate person you are going to rent your house for a while since no offers have been made. You are the owner and the boss with what you want to do. You can use the approach that you do not agree with the marketing approach the real estate agent/broker has used....keep in mind that he/she has shirked their duties if they haven't: 1) listed it in MLS, 2) held open houses; 3) held broker open houses; 4) and widely advertised the home each week. Tell this person you are unhappy with the way they have advertised it, not received any offers and just the general way they have conducted the offering of the real estate. Tell the person you feel they are not acting in the best interest of you as the seller. See what he/she says. If they don't respond tell them you are reporting them to the National Realtors Association and the Illinois Department of Professional Regulation and License.

I think you can get out of your contract this way. Do not mention your friend wants to buy it. Then after the remaining two months of your real estate contract and only after the contract date expires, then proceed with the sale. Personally I would wait 3 or 4 months if you are sure this person is going to buy it. In fact I would have some type of a contract written up with your friend the renter that they intend to buy it. You can find sample purchase agreements on the internet so that your renter/purchaser sees what you are willing to pay for.

If you absolutely can't get out of the contract you could tell the agent you want to double or triple the asking price to assure you don't get any offers while you are renting. Or tell them you discovered a huge swarm of termites and you think the sill is bad in the house and you'll most likely have to do major repairs.....believe me they will want to get out of your contract!

I used to sell real estate many years ago. We always let a seller out of a contract because if you don't it's not good for business. Sellers are generally afraid to try to get out of the contract and afraid they will get sued....but when an attorney costs $250 per hour to press the issue, I doubt that the sales office will sue you. Just keep your intentions to yourself!

Getting Out of Our Real Estate Contract

P.S. I'm going to send you something else by direct message.

Good Luck

Jeff Hill · 07-16-2009, 08:12 AM

I personally do not agree with Doll Lady’s devious ways of getting out of your contract. Most Agents and Brokers are understanding people. If you simply ask them to let you out, they will more than likely abide.

Whatever you do, please DO NOT report them to the National Association of Realtors or the Department of Professional Regulation. They did nothing wrong for you to try and ruin their careers.

Good Luck

doll lady · 07-17-2009, 04:48 AM

The person posing the question asked of ways to get out of a contract and I simply gave her KNOWN ways of how to get out of a contract. Sounds as if you are a broker /agent to call these devious. The Devious 6 month run off period which you mentioned which runs after the contract period expires is the most DEVIOUS thing a real estate broker and thus the agent can use. No one should sign a contract with this is in it. Of course I agree the seller should ask to get out of her contract, but if she has had no open houses, no advertising (which a lot of agents are not advertising due to financial) then she can very well use the I am not happy approach. And if an agent or a broker is not working and having open houses (both public and broker), advertising, and using other marketing approaches to sell the house and gives no response they should be reported. They should be doing something to earn the commission.

Jeff Hill · 07-17-2009, 07:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by doll lady

The person posing the question asked of ways to get out of a contract and I simply gave her KNOWN ways of how to get out of a contract. Sounds as if you are a broker /agent to call these devious. The Devious 6 month run off period which you mentioned which runs after the contract period expires is the most DEVIOUS thing a real estate broker and thus the agent can use. No one should sign a contract with this is in it. Of course I agree the seller should ask to get out of her contract, but if she has had no open houses, no advertising (which a lot of agents are not advertising due to financial) then she can very well use the I am not happy approach. And if an agent or a broker is not working and having open houses (both public and broker), advertising, and using other marketing approaches to sell the house and gives no response they should be reported. They should be doing something to earn the commission.

I couldn't agree more.