Quote:
Originally Posted by getdul981
We have had our house listed with a realtor for just over a month. Prior to listing with this realtor, we had some neighbors come by and look at our house. We have only had one couple come by with a realtor from another company about 2 or 3 days after our initial listing. Our realtor had an open house this past Sunday and had 4 couples come by. Two were neighbor couples.
Today, the wife of the couple that came by prior to our listing came by again. She just called us and made us an offer that is very reasonable, but they don't want to have a realtor involved. It's approximately $5000 more than we would receive if we stay listed and sell for the full list price and the realtor gets her full 6%. It just so happens that her husband came by Sunday and the realtor knows that he is a neighbor.
Is it ethical and or possible to get the realtor to release us from the contract if we agree to pay her 1/6 of what she would have received had we stayed with her and sold at the full price? (we have a 6 month contract) If she won't release us, we are under no obligation to reduce the price or to accept any offers less than our list price. I would think she would jump at the opportunity to have a few thousand as opposed to nothing.
We are also afraid that the neighbors might find another house if we cannot sell to them.
Any suggestions???
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Personally, I would be a little worried as to why the neighbors don't want a realtor involved. It adds nothing to their costs, since you as the seller are paying the commission, not them. I am not a realtor, but I have bought and sold 8 properties over the years in 3 different states. I have had good realtors involved who have made sure that the paperwork was done correctly, that all of my rights (as both a buyer and as a seller) were adhered to, and that nothing in the process was overlooked. I would be certainly hire a lawyer for the sale process if a realtor is not involved, and that could eat into your $5000 advantage fairly heavily, especially if things start to get a little dicey down the road. Even though they are your neighbors, a business deal is a business deal, and entering into one without professional help is probably a bad idea. I would want to have a much better understanding of their reasons for not wanting to do a deal through a realtor before I tried to break a contract. JMHO.
B.