Realtor Trouble!! (flat fee, lawyer, home sales)

[Twobeach]

Was listed, 30 days, friend interested in home, told Realtor before we signed contract, if I have to lower my price so will you! They agreed . Friend who is buying property wants nothing to do w/ realtor, wants to deal directly with me. Asked Realtor to lower to 2%,{were @3%} Keep in mind its one of these new Realty Companies" That the Realtors keep 98% of their commish!!! They have room to negotiate! My price drop was almost $40,000, ,,this is major in todays market. I have locked the deal, I have set the terms and contacted my lawyer of many years. Weeks ago when this situation surfaced I approached this subject, all she heard and said was "your not going to pay me" which she repeated for the remainder of the call. the weeks that followed, my significant other was threatened twice as I was, that she would leave. Today, I once again approached the subject after calling the Realtor 15 times, no answer while I created the terms to forward to the Attorney, finally I gave up and faxed it on my own and found out she on her own contacted the Lawyer, but never returned any of my calls. Later in the afternoon, I left a voice mail, telling her "you dont answer the phone to add to the contract, missed 6 showings, and are hostile, your really earning your money now" and hung up.
Note* As a hired Selling Agent they are suppose to be here to show the property, we have shown it 6 times in the Agents absence . I am aware I can go to the State Dept and go after her License, which is drastic, I just think fairness should prevail. the buyer is an old Friend of ours. Later this evening, I received a call from the Agent, Nasty, unresponsive and she called me names for 3 minutes as I could not get a word in edgewise. She was extreamly combative, insulting and basically a raving lunatic. They had the listing for 6 months, did not sell, after a year,we gave her another shot 30 days into it, we have locked a deal.
We have dealt with many Realtors, some professionals, some incompatents, others quacks. We always put a clause in our contracts that if we have a falling out, or do not mesh, we can cancell the contact at any time. This one mislead me and asked what is my fee if I do this, I told her no fee, we go our seperate ways. She complied, but was not happy. Without my knowledge, she placed a clause in, that states if I sell 90 days after her realease, she is due her Commision, She did not tell me about this, she snuck this little ditti in the contract. When things began to go bad, threats, no shows, I read the agreement to find this.
I ask is this Justice? Is this Fair? Are we being unreasonable? The fee we are offering is like $8,000. We are aware this Agent in no way spent anywere near 1000 marketing out home, so this is more than a fair compensation. Thoughts????

[suzook]

Originally Posted by Twobeach

My price drop was almost $40,000, ,,this is major in todays market.

To be honst, this is the norm in this market.

Originally Posted by Twobeach

Without my knowledge, she placed a clause in, that states if I sell 90 days after her realease, she is due her Commision, She did not tell me about this, she snuck this little ditti in the contract.

I thought this was standard practice also. Just because you sold to your friend, dosnt give you the right to not honor the contract you signed.

[pidge1114]

I had a similar experience.

I had my house on the market for a year. A YEAR. Then my sister needed a house, and I cut her a deal. However I had 1 month left on my seller's contract. I explained that it was a family deal, and that since none of their open houses had brought anything (and they were not bringing in buyers either) I thought I had an argument to sell separately while within contract.

Nope.

Unless you mark it in your contract when you sign, you are obligated to pay them commission REGARDLESS of who buys it. Now, being that they were taking 4% and they did not bring in the seller, I made a plea to make me a deal...because since I was selling to my sister, I could EASILY wait out my contract and they could get 0% commission. I made that very clear. Would they rather get no money after a year or a negotiated number?

In the end, they saw the light and came to a number that was not a percentage but a flat fee that was somewhere in the neighborhood of 2.5%.

BTW, I too had that 90 day BS in my contract - but it specifically states that it refers to persons who had been shown the house, visited an open house, or seen the sign. This could not apply to friends or family, who obviously know the house and is by word of mouth. It all comes down to how reasonable your realtor is.

[scottzilla]

You shouldn't have signed the contract with the realitor.
The realitor is entilted to their share, per the contract.
If they did drop it to 2%, you should have just taken it.
Furthernmore, the "Clause" you put in the contract is just plain...dumb. Basically you are expecting a company that earns it's living by selling houses to agree to being dumped for no reason.
The "90 day clause" the realitor "Snuck in" is pretty standard. It prevents people from waiting out RE contracts, then going around the listing company.
You claim to have experience with other realitors-do you buy and sell homes all the time? Just curious because if you are serious you need a better lawyer.
I would give the RE company their 2% and move on. If they go to court they will bring the contract and win. Your ace in the hole is the realitor really does not want to go to court.

[Twobeach]

I offered 2%,,they are combative,,,nasty & insulting,,all I did was request we renegotiage the contract.I have turned over properties in various states,,,this is only the second time in NY.I have been in this since the boom,,the home has dropped,,$440,000 Total,,The clause is not dumb, all people do not have a reppour,,this is a way out if you do not see eye to eye. Wow googled Realtors Suc* tonight,,OMG,,I was amazed at all the negitivity , horror stories and Games, they play, the internet is littered with comparisions of dreges of Society to used Car Salesmen. I did run into one curious statement, In Japan the Realtors are paid 1/5%, they posted "I do not understand the people in the USA, why do they pay so much, its the price and the homes sell themselves"?

[Coachgns]

First of all, I do not understand how she "snuck in" a clause? Was it written in invisible ink so you couldn't read it?

Secondly, if I read your post correctly, you are arguing over 1%? That's $4400 in a $440,000 transaction. Sure it would be better if you could have this in your pocket rather than the realtor's, but it's not that big a number in context. Seems to me to be a waste of your energy being so angry. Be happy you sold! In this market, you're in a minority.

[Twobeach]

Your reading it incorrectly,,I wanna pay her $8000.00 not $12,700.00,,,,,it wasnt in invisible ink,, I saw her write the clause I requested then she covered the contract with another page to have me sign,,quickly pulling it to the side to show the clause I requested.oh and my Typo above,,Japan pays 1.5% commision on home sales.

[scottzilla]

I heard there is new beach front property in Northern Japan available.
Do you like raw fish?

[pidge1114]

Originally Posted by scottzilla

i heard there is new beach front property in northern japan available.
Do you like raw fish?

lol

[MikeyKid]

Someplace there's a thread with a similar version of this story, but the title is "Client Trouble!!"

You negotiate before signing a contract... not after.