I just put my house on the market and have a realtor. What if the house I want to buy is for sale by owner?
I have been working with a realtor to sell my house and to look at houses. I have not found any I really like with her, but the one I do like is a for sale by owner. She said before that she can call to see if they will work with a realtor, but by talking to this person they will not. What if I want to buy the for sale by owner house? Do I owe my realtor a commission?
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the responsibility for a commission is with the seller. If you found the house and negotiate the deal, then you don’t owe the realtor a commission. But, if things go sour, then you have no recourse to a professional RE person. You might ask your realtor if they will work with you for a fixed fee which you would pay her to make sure the transaction goes well and you are protected. The fee should be based on the amount of work the realtor does, which should be much less than a commission. However, if your realtor is not the main broker then she/he might not be able to work with you unless the broker OK’s it, as there could be liability for the broker. If they won’t work with you, then get a good RE lawyer who will charge you based on an hourly fee to make sure you are protected. Again, you will have to pay for that, and not the owner. The owner will have to pay the normal escrow fees in your area.
Did you sign a “Buyers Agency Agreement” with your Realtor? If so you will owe her a commission even if the home is for sale by owner. But even if not it would probably be in your best interests to use her anyway, just to make sure you are protected when dealing with the contract. If the seller will not pay her a commission from the price you agreed to you could add it to the price.
Not the best circumstance, but she should structure the offer so that you can get out of it if there is a problem anywhere with the home. A Realtor really does protect you. Her job really starts once you have a contract, making sure everything goes smoothly.
Hope this helps,
Josh
If you haven’t signed a contract for your agent to be your sole buyers agent, you can do whatever you want.
If you buy a house, you can have a real lawyer look over your papers, before you sign, for $300 – 500. (Real Estate Agents are really just glorified Door openers and I truly have no idea, why they exist)
On the FSBO no. But if you feel that the realtor is going to be of service specifically to you as far as making sure the legal paperwork is not overlooked, then you can agree to give her a certain dollar amount providing she can get you to the settlement table on the house you intend on buying.
You only owe your Realtor a commission if he / she sells your house. I f you purchase from a for sale by owner, the Realtor is not entitled to any compensation for that transaction.