Buyer's Agent question for RE's here (broker, how much, house)

[supercatnyc]

Hi all,

My first post.

Can a Buyer's Agent (who would work for me) put in an offer on a home that they used to be the Listing Agent for? Apparently, their contract was not renewed about 6 months ago and the home is now listed with another Broker/Agent.

Not sure how this all could work, vis-a-vis commissions and such for them.

Thanks!

[Chrisk327]

I'm not expert here, you can probably ask them. However, it really doesn't matter how much commission they get to you.

my thoughts are, if they showed you the house after the listing agreement expired, when it was listed with another agent, they get the buy side of the commission and the sellers agent gets the sell side.

if they showed it to you when they had the listing and you're making an offer now that they don't have the listing.... it gets sticky. really depends on what is written in the various listing agreements and what gets worked out....

[TomMoser]

Yes, they can put in the offer for you.

If they are acting as your buyer's agent, they need to disclose the possible conflict of having previously been the seller's agent to both you and the seller.

As for commissions, he probably would have to accept what is being offered to cooperating agents by the current listing agent. This would most likely be the case even if he originally showed the home to you when he had the listing, given that so much time has passed.

Why don't you just talk to him about it?

[supercatnyc]

Tom/Chrisk,

Thanks for responses. As ChrisK above mentions: yes, the potential buyers agent I am referencing did show us the same house over a year ago when they had the listing. We chose not to follow-through with an offer at that time. But time has passed (14 months) and the house is now at a good price-point for us. We had discussions with this same Buyers Agent a number of months ago that when we were ready for offers again, we would like to utilize their services as our B/A (my husband and I both were impressed by him)

So, considering this and the fact that I dont know the RE Laws in NYS, I/we didnt want to approach him yet concerning being our B/A for a house he had originally showed us as a Listing Agent without some knowledge about this situation first.

Also, not sure what the B/A would actually be entitled to in this case - - or even if they would be comfortable with it....commission-wise?

Thoughts???

thanks

[TomMoser]

Don't worry. They'll take the commission being offered. You can bank on it.

[supercatnyc]

Originally Posted by TomMoser

Don't worry. They'll take the commission being offered. You can bank on it.

Thanks Tom...I am assuming from your response that there should not be any conflict of interest based upon the amount of time that has passed since they showed us the house.

But what If this B/A is for whatever reason "uncomfortable" with representing us for this ex-listing: do they still get some type of split-commission if we end up closing on it via another B/A? (since they showed us the property originally 14 months ago)????

[TomMoser]

If you use another agent is unlikely that they will try to claim a commission given the length of time that has passed.

If an agent has a commission dispute with another agent they can have an arbitration hearing by the MLS. They have to show that they were the "procuring cause" of the sale. In other words, they need to show that they are the ones who actually brought about the sale. It would be very hard to show this with a 14 month gap in the contium of events.

If you like this agent, go ahead and call him. If you are that uncomfortable, call someone else. Even if he does end up in a commission disupute it should not effect you at all.

[Elke Mariotti]

As Tom mentioned, as long as there is disclosure to both parties, it should not be a problem.
You stated that you had a conversation a few months ago; if the agent you have in mind is indeed uncomfortable with the situation, you could ask him to refer another agent to represent you as a Buyer's Agent. This would eliminate any conflict, and the original agent could collect a referral fee.

In most instances, the listing broker will offer the same compensation to a broker agent as to a buyer agent. Before you sign a buyer agency agreement, be sure to address what happens if the listing broker offers less or no compensation to the buyer agent; it doesn't happen frequently, but it does happen. Better to bring up the matter beforehand

[supercatnyc]

Thank you all. We will contact the B/A tonight. Much appreciated.

[TomMoser]

Good luck. Please come back and let us know how it turns out.