[taylor111947]

I will be listing my house with a realtor by the end of the month. Meanwhile a friend of a friend would like to see the house today so I guess at this point it is a FSBO situation. How does it work if she brings a realtor? Although I can't imagine that she would, I just want a better understanding of the 'rules'.

[ricthemic]

Originally Posted by taylor111947

I will be listing my house with a realtor by the end of the month. Meanwhile a friend of a friend would like to see the house today so I guess at this point it is a FSBO situation. How does it work if she brings a realtor? Although I can't imagine that she would, I just want a better understanding of the 'rules'.

If Florida is the same as MA. (we did the same thing up there). On our FSBO, the buyer had a local MLS realtor who had been working with them. They scheduled a second walk through so they could bring her and get her advice. No problem if they buy their realtor (and her office) was entitled to half the going rate of commission. They bought and we paid her 2 1/2 percent of sale price.
There realtor was instrumental in the sale because they trusted her and she told them it was a great deal.
Best 2 1/2 percent I ever spent.

[Indy-Guy]

Originally Posted by taylor111947

I will be listing my house with a realtor by the end of the month. Meanwhile a friend of a friend would like to see the house today so I guess at this point it is a FSBO situation. How does it work if she brings a realtor? Although I can't imagine that she would, I just want a better understanding of the 'rules'.

I sold my home myself. The lady that purchased my home showed up with a realtor. This was 2 days after I had put a for sale sign in the front yard. They looked at my home and left. The next day the realtor called me and said that they had an offer for me and wanted to come over and we set up a time. When they showed up on time and the realtor sat down with me in the kitchen and the buyer asked to look through the home again. The realtor then layed out the offer for me which included a 7% commission for him. I said to him that first of all I would not accept the price that they were offering me even if the commission wasn't included. I then told him that I wasn't interested in paying him any commission and that the reason I put a for sale by owner sign in the yard was that I feel I can sell this home myself since homes on my street have always sold very quick in the past. He asked me what was the least I would take for the home I told him a figure and that was with no commission being paid. He also told me that he would be listing her home if she were to purchase my home and that she didn't need to sell her home to purchase mine. I told him it was in his best interest that she purchase my home so he can list her home but she needs to raise her offer.

The next day the realtor called me with another offer not including commission but lower than what I told him I would take. I told him that he had asked me what was the least that I would take for the home and I gave him that figure and if they wanted the home that I wasn't interested in a lower figure since I had just put the sign in the front yard and had two other people interested which I did.

The next day the realtor called me and said she would purchase the home and that they would be over at 7:00 PM that night to sign my contract that I had my lawyer draw up. By 7:30 PM they were not there and no phone call. I left the home and left my cell phone at home as well. When I got home around 10:00 PM there was a phone message that was left on my home and cell phone at 8:15 PM by the realtor that they were running late. The next day I received a call on my cell phone from the realtor that they were sorry for the mix up. I told him that I would fax the contract to him and if he wanted to bring to my office a signed contract and a deposit to me by 5:00 PM that day I would honor my offer if not for them not to bother me again.

He did show up with the check and contract. A couple of weeks later the buyer called me and asked if she could come over again and take some measurements of the house. I told her that she was welcome to come but the realtor was not welcome. She came and was very nice and told me that the realtor told her that he would show her how he could purchase the home cheaper than I had told them and not showing up till later to sign the contract would help him when he was going to try one more time to get me to lower the price. She was not very happy with the realtor and we never talked about him again.

My suggestion is if she shows up with a realtor and the realtor starts playing games tell them that a for sale by owner sign is going up in the yard after they leave. And tell the realtor to be happy with the commission on your friends home.

[Sweetgirl]

Very Nice Indy-Guy. I enjoyed reading how you handled your home sale.

[logdog]

Originally Posted by taylor111947

I will be listing my house with a realtor by the end of the month. Meanwhile a friend of a friend would like to see the house today so I guess at this point it is a FSBO situation. How does it work if she brings a realtor? Although I can't imagine that she would, I just want a better understanding of the 'rules'.

We did a FSBO in New Mexico. Since we were listed in the MLS, we were obligated to pay 3% to the buyer's agent. Still a good deal since they did all the paperwork and handled the closing. Since you're not MLS, you could negotiate a "finders fee" below 3%. There are no hard and fast rules.

[paulandjean]

Why would a fsfo (seller) pay or split a commision.

[redwitch]

One thing to be sure of is that if your friend doesn't buy your house is that you get it in your contract with your agent that if your friend decides to buy, you will not be required to pay any commission for that sale.

I don't get why the seller should have to pay for the buyer's agent in a FSBO. That just doesn't seem right to me. You didn't hire that agent, didn't ask for that agent and the agent isn't representing you. I know that in California if a buyer hires an agent to represent them, the buyer pays that agent. A buyer's agent represents ONLY the buyer, which is not usually the case -- usually an agent represents both parties. In a FSBO, the reality is an agent represents the buyer even when doing the paperwork -- they're negotiating for the buyer, not the seller. So, why should the seller pay for that agent on top of paying an attorney and you would be foolish to not have a real estate attorney to do the paperwork for you?

[ricthemic]

Don't know about California but do know that including CA and every other state this is the greatest buyer's market in my entire adult life. Given this market or any market most FSOBs if not sold (and the owner needs to sell) end up with being listed with MLS. I would not hesitate for a mili-second in this market to offer the buyers agent half the going commission especially if he/she has a pre-qualified buyer and is recommending your house to purchase. Like you said, very soon you are going to give it to a realtor... then you pay the entire commission anyway. You also probably have no idea the depth and length of the relationship between the buyer and his agent. Jerk their agent around in this market and he/she will come up with a lot of reasons not to buy your house. Good Luck

[Bill-n-Brillo]

Originally Posted by taylor111947

I will be listing my house with a realtor by the end of the month. Meanwhile a friend of a friend would like to see the house today so I guess at this point it is a FSBO situation. How does it work if she brings a realtor? Although I can't imagine that she would, I just want a better understanding of the 'rules'.

The 'rules' in this situation are up to you. If your friend chooses to bring a realtor in, it's up to you to elect to pay or not pay the realtor anything. We listed a property several years back as a FSBO. The eventual buyer wanted to bring in his realtor - after we'd negotiated and agreed on the selling price - to handle all the paperwork, etc. I said it was fine but whatever that expense amounted to would be out of his pocket, which he was fine with. Actually, we ended up adding it to the sales price of the property with the realtor's commission shown in the transaction as a buyer's expense. Worked out just fine.

Bill

[taylor111947]

[QUOTE=redwitch;330342]One thing to be sure of is that if your friend doesn't buy your house is that you get it in your contract with your agent that if your friend decides to buy, you will not be required to pay any commission for that sale.

Thanks for your advice - turns out they did not bring a realtor so that is not an issue, but I want to sign the contract with my realtor as soon as possible so I'll exclude them from any commission. They seemed to like the house and said they would be making a decision within a week so I'm keeping my fingers crossed.