how did we become the bad guy???? - Posted by star

Real Estate Investing
#1

Posted by JohnBoy on March 30, 2002 at 18:49:14:

The way the post is written it’s not clear as to what happened here. But from the way I read it it sounds as if she did go through the agent to first present the offer and the agent came back saying they weren’t really interested in a L/O. She also stated she caught the agent in two small lies she had told the sellers so that would appear she had to of been involved with the offer some how. But that is why I usually never get involved when an agent is already involved because it always complicates things and messes up a deal.

But even if the agent doesn’t present an offer, it could be just that they are being a jerk about it or they may have been told by the seller not to bother presenting certain offers. If a seller instructs them not to present certain offers then they are doing their job and they don’t have to present the offer.

If an agent isn’t doing their job and refuses to present an offer then by all means go directly to the seller, but the seller will still be liable for the commission if the buyer buys the property. It would be between the seller and the agent to battle it out whether they are entitled to their commission and would have go to court over it, but that just complicates things more and can end up being a deal killer.

Bottom line, find a good agent that will work with you or don’t get involved with them trying to do creative deals because in most cases they will complicate things and end up killing the deal in the end. It may not be right but that’s just pretty much the way it is!

#2

how did we become the bad guy??? - Posted by star

Posted by star on March 30, 2002 at 15:21:42:

I am just sick about this. We had made a lease to own offer on a house and felt like the realtor wasn’t being honest with us. (We caught her in two small lies trying to tell us what our spouse said about the property, but they really didn’t). We found the house through a friend and decided to not go through our realtor so there would be more working room. Anyways, when she said that the owners weren’t really interested with the L/O we dropped it. After the house sat vacant for a bit, I decided to do some homework. Pulled the owners name off of appraisal and called. They were indeed interested. They said their contract wasn’t up until the end of this month with the realtor. We said we could talk then. They called back and we started working numbers casually (this is probably where I went wrong). We gave them a lower offer then they had wanted, but they said they would think about it. It really was 95% full asking price. Anyways, we just got a call from an angry agent. I don’t blame her, but she accused us of trying to push the sellers into dishonest situation that they weren’t comfortable. Said we won’t go far in life with that type of business, etc. The sellers were the ones that asked to get ballpark numbers to even see if there was a deal, then said “lets just leave this between us”. I guess that should have been a red flag. What should I have said then. How do you handle this. Is it legal to leave a message to call me after their contract is up. What is appropriate. I called and left messages with both the realtor and the sellers saying “I’m sorry for the misunderstanding and that we really were just trying to see if (a) the offer was made and (b) could we talk after the contract was up.” Crazy! What should we have done to avoid

#3

Re: how did we become the bad guy??? - Posted by JohnBoy

Posted by JohnBoy on March 30, 2002 at 15:55:29:

Did you originally go through the listing agent on this?

If the property is listed and you have any dealings with the agent pertaining to that property then the agent would have to be paid the commission. You can’t just cut them out.

If you have never talked to the listing agent then you would have to wait until after the listing expires to do anything with the seller.

When a seller calls and they have the property listed then we just tell them to call us back after the listing has expired.

If you get involved in any way with the agent while the property is listed and then later go back after the listing has expired the seller would still be liable for the agents commission because the agent was involved while it was listed even though you didn’t buy it at that time.

So avoid listed property until after the listing has expired unless you can make the deal work so the agent still gets paid.

Based on your post it sounds as if you tried to present an offer with the agent. If that is the case the agent is right. You can’t just go around the agent’s back and cut them out by waiting for the listing to expire. You must avoid ANY contact with the agent which means you found the property on your own, not because of the listing, or the seller has called you. Then you need to tell the seller to call you back after the listing expires or otherwise pay the agents commission.

#4

Work with motivated sellers only - Posted by Jim FL

Posted by Jim FL on March 30, 2002 at 15:53:27:

Star,
Where you went wrong, and I’m not trying to be harsh here, is to deal with a seller who is not very motivated, and to lose control.
NEVER let anyone but YOU control the deal.
I’d just leave this one be, and move on to the next.
Should the sellers decide later, after the house has not sold that your offer was a good one, they will call…or not!
NEXT!

Good luck and keep your head up,
Jim FL

#5

Re: how did we become the bad guy??? - Posted by TomG

Posted by TomG on March 30, 2002 at 16:39:21:

Well it seems like to me, that the listing agent can’t complain too much since by law I thought that the agent HAD to make any and all offers to the homeowners and since they didn’t, the agent shouldn’t be too upset since they didn’t do their job.

#6

Re: Work with motivated sellers only - Posted by Dee-Texas

Posted by Dee-Texas on March 30, 2002 at 21:03:11:

Hi Jim,
AND when they call back, my offer just went down on the property. OR Next! smiles
Dee-Texas