Ulrich said:

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Sometimes I'd say suck it up and get over it if you're wrong, but you're paying this person thousands of dollars to be your advisor in a complex situation with imperfect information. Don't let your best resource become an additional source of stress and uncertainty.

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I know that no Buyer Representation agreement up front is a common marketing tactic amongst realtors and some people are paranoid of them. BUT… this is a perfect example of why this is abject silliness. As the person committing the capital, you hold pretty much all the cards in a relationship with a broker anyway. It clears up all the important terms up front.

Reality in this situation is this is something that probably should have been clear up front. Shame on the agent for not being clear about it. Putting the agent aside though, you just wasted a bunch of your time and probably lost a property your wanted because things weren't clear at the outset.

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20ag07 said:

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I know that no Buyer Representation agreement up front is a common marketing tactic amongst realtors and some people are paranoid of them. BUT… this is a perfect example of why this is abject silliness. As the person committing the capital, you hold pretty much all the cards in a relationship with a broker anyway. It clears up all the important terms up front.

Reality in this situation is this is something that probably should have been clear up front. Shame on the agent for not being clear about it. Putting the agent aside though, you just wasted a bunch of your time and probably lost a property your wanted because things weren't clear at the outset.

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Pretty easily done through an email, not a legal rep agmt locking you in. A good agent has enough business to not need one. If they're doing their work, they'll get your business. If they need a legal document to protect from "wasting their time" or "establishing expectations", they probably aren't doing enough business to be worth using.

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Red Pear Realty said:

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The Realtor Code of Ethics requires that agents serve as their clients Fiduciary, regardless of rep agreement.

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Red Pear Realty said:

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The Realtor Code of Ethics requires that agents serve as their clients Fiduciary, regardless of rep agreement.

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ATM9000 said:

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Ulrich said:

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Sometimes I'd say suck it up and get over it if you're wrong, but you're paying this person thousands of dollars to be your advisor in a complex situation with imperfect information. Don't let your best resource become an additional source of stress and uncertainty.

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In this case, you actually aren't paying this person thousands of dollars, the seller is. Small but important nuance.

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Ulrich said:

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ATM9000 said:

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Ulrich said:

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Sometimes I'd say suck it up and get over it if you're wrong, but you're paying this person thousands of dollars to be your advisor in a complex situation with imperfect information. Don't let your best resource become an additional source of stress and uncertainty.

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In this case, you actually aren't paying this person thousands of dollars, the seller is. Small but important nuance.

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That's how the mechanics work because the seller is the one receiving cash, but taking a step back: Thousands of dollars are being paid and it's coming out of a transaction the buyer is party to. If the agents weren't there, the buyer/seller would effectively end up splitting the money currently going to their respective agents.

Regardless, none of this is particularly relevant to my point, which is that it's going to be really hard to buy a house and feel good about it if you don't trust your representative.

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Martin Q. Blank said:

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Sure enough, about halfway through the offer packet, there was a Buyer's Representation Agreement that included a clause putting us on the hook for making up any commissions should the buyer's agent cut fall short of 3%. The term on this agreement was back-dated to early January, when I believe we initially made contact with the realtor, and extended all the way through to September. I wasn't planning on ever signing a representation agreement if possible, and there was no way I was going to sign one that lasted for half a year while also potentially making me responsible for commissions.

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I'm going to give your realtor the benefit of the doubt. What is atypical about this deal is the seller only paying 5% instead of the 6%.

A representation agreement is typical. The clause you mentioned is typical. 6 month term is typical. The fact that you hadn't signed one already shows the realtor isn't using it to lock you in, but just to cover themselves as a broker.

So it's a typical document that your broker makes all buyers sign and the realtor didn't think to strike the clause on making up commission. To show that, they removed the whole agreement altogether for you.

I personally don't think they were trying to pull a fast one on you.

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