Tweet
I would like to see the agreement i would e-sign prior to making my flat fee payment. The main question i have is whether it is my choice to deal with buyer's brokers when I am contacted by them or can I decide not to and only show the property to unrepresented buyers. Will I be in breach of any contract provisions if I do that? I am not in a rush to sell and would like to pay the flat fee and ultimately sell to an unrepresented buyer to avoid paying a broker's fee, even if it is just 2%.
-
-
Great question Irene! Please remember that you are free to sell to anyone you wish, or not sell at all even if you receive a full asking price offer. It's your choice and there won't be someone there pressuring you to take an offer.
Most MLS associations however will require listing brokers (and thereby sellers) to respond to buyers' agents when they inquire on a property, typically within 1 business day. With that said, you are not required to show the property to anyone if it does not suit your schedule. It is typically acceptable to suggest another time, or even to just ask them to stop by the open house. Some sellers are not open to showing the property frequently, perhaps because they still live there, and as a result it's quite common to see sellers direct everyone to the open house.
In short, you cannot refuse to deal with buyers' agents, but you don't have to show if it doesn't suit your schedule. Furthermore, if you don't like the fact that a buyer is represented, there's nothing preventing you from countering higher (to account for the buyer agent fee) to an offer from a represented buyer. -
Irene, some traditional listing agents have the same thought process as you by the way, and are always trying to figure out how to sell to a direct buyer.
Essentially, you can't overtly decline to deal with buyer's brokers, as refusing to co-broke by default will break MLS association rules. Nor can you even say publicly (i.e. listing description) that you only want to deal with direct buyers.
So you have to be a good sport and respond to inquiries from buyers' agents, but by no means do you have to accommodate a private showing. You can always say it doesn't work for your schedule, and direct them to the open house (where anyone can stop by anyway). Then you can save your time for private showings for direct buyers only.
Same thing, when you get an offer, there are no rules on how you must respond. If you get two offers, one from a direct buyer and one from a represented buyer. You can simply counter back 2% or 3% higher to the represented buyer. Make them essentially pay for their buyer agent.Comment
-
Keep in mind that the whole point of listing in the MLS, or REBNY RLS if you're in NYC, is so your listing will get the attention of buyers' agents who represent 90% of all buyers. For example, there's 50,000 licensed real estate agents in NYC alone, running around and offering their buy side guidance for free. Every New Yorker has at least 5 agent friends. Why do you think most buyers end up being represented?
As a result, the point of being in the MLS is so you can contractually co-broke (through your listing agent) and offer commission to buyers' agents. This way, they won't be afraid that somehow they'll get screwed out of their commission if they send their buyer to your listing, because all member firms of the MLS contractually agree upon joining to co-broke with each other.
So don't get overly focused on finding a direct buyer. That 2% is ultimately meaningless if you ignore buyers' agents. What if a represented buyer turns out to be an all cash foreign buyer who's willing to pay above ask? You'll miss that buyer and most buyers in general if you're not on the MLS.Comment
-
Thanks for the link with the answers. I noticed in the answers several references to an open house. Is having an open house a requirement under the terms of the agreement I would sign? I do not plan on having open houses for a variety of reasons, so I want to make sure that I am not obligated to have them.
I still have not seen the agreement and do not feel comfortable with paying the flat fee first and then seeing the agreement.Comment
-
Hello Irene, you are never required to hold an open house. Many sellers choose to do so because it's a great marketing tool, but it is entirely optional to do so. In fact, some co-op buildings prohibit open houses.
In order to protect our intellectual property, and because many brokers and other curious potential competitors always ask to see it, we do not give out our agreements to anyone who is not a paid customer. With that said, please check out our refund policy below.
If you reference this URL, we are happy to waive any processing fees, and give you a full refund if you decide to cancel after seeing the agreement, but before signing it. Thank you.
Comment
Comment