So what would you do in this situation??
We were working towards an owner to owner agreement on trading our houses. In parallel with that we had discussed possibly listing our house, assuming that the trade was not going to go through. By the time we met with our real estate agent, it was clear that the trade was very likely.
Since the agent had come prepared with comps and done a little homework, we indicated that we could still use her services, and we would pay her something fair. She is a friend of a close family member, and we did not want to take advantage of her. However, we were very disappointed in her comps, since a couple of the “solds” were 12 years old. And she wanted to list higher than the house next door, which has not sold, and we felt was over-priced. My wife is a former real estate agent, and we have sold many homes by owner, so we know listings are not good comps.
The agent said she had a situation with a client and that they drug her all over to look at builders, reviewed blue prints, etc. She was paid $1500 for that, and she indicated that helping with a For Sale by Owner is 1%. Given we were doing all of the legwork on this transaction. I was thinking on the order of $500.
So without any assistance from the agent, the buyer/seller and us agreed on terms, logistics of the move, etc. At this point I asked our agent to send me two purchase agreements, one with our price, and one with their price. It took her 10 minutes to do this.
We met again with the buyer/seller, hashed out more details, and signed the documents, all without the agent. They made it clear that they would not pay our agent, and that an agent who was a friend of theirs would help them if they needed it.
I relayed all of this to our agent. She said she decided that the fee would be 1% of both properties, which would be $1600. I was quite surprised, and I told her that she won’t be doing anything with the sale of the property we are buying, and that we would be willing to give her 1% of our sale only. I told her we could handle both sales from here, including the mortgage, inspections, and title insurance.
A few days went by, and she called my wife, told her the same story, but with a little more anger. My wife did not back down, and told her in a professional way what she thought was fair. The agent then got personal, and insulted my wife about a situation that she knew little about, and was not true. So with my wife nearly crying and furious, we are now in an awkward situation.
I see a few options:
1. Pay her the $750 for what I think is more than fair for minimal work.
2. Pay her the $1600, and write it off as a lesson, and keep peace in the family. This would also avoid a lawsuit, which I would not be surprised about
3. Write a letter to her broker, inform them of the unprofessional service, and pay nothing.
What would you do?
We were working towards an owner to owner agreement on trading our houses. In parallel with that we had discussed possibly listing our house, assuming that the trade was not going to go through. By the time we met with our real estate agent, it was clear that the trade was very likely.
Since the agent had come prepared with comps and done a little homework, we indicated that we could still use her services, and we would pay her something fair. She is a friend of a close family member, and we did not want to take advantage of her. However, we were very disappointed in her comps, since a couple of the “solds” were 12 years old. And she wanted to list higher than the house next door, which has not sold, and we felt was over-priced. My wife is a former real estate agent, and we have sold many homes by owner, so we know listings are not good comps.
The agent said she had a situation with a client and that they drug her all over to look at builders, reviewed blue prints, etc. She was paid $1500 for that, and she indicated that helping with a For Sale by Owner is 1%. Given we were doing all of the legwork on this transaction. I was thinking on the order of $500.
So without any assistance from the agent, the buyer/seller and us agreed on terms, logistics of the move, etc. At this point I asked our agent to send me two purchase agreements, one with our price, and one with their price. It took her 10 minutes to do this.
We met again with the buyer/seller, hashed out more details, and signed the documents, all without the agent. They made it clear that they would not pay our agent, and that an agent who was a friend of theirs would help them if they needed it.
I relayed all of this to our agent. She said she decided that the fee would be 1% of both properties, which would be $1600. I was quite surprised, and I told her that she won’t be doing anything with the sale of the property we are buying, and that we would be willing to give her 1% of our sale only. I told her we could handle both sales from here, including the mortgage, inspections, and title insurance.
A few days went by, and she called my wife, told her the same story, but with a little more anger. My wife did not back down, and told her in a professional way what she thought was fair. The agent then got personal, and insulted my wife about a situation that she knew little about, and was not true. So with my wife nearly crying and furious, we are now in an awkward situation.
I see a few options:
1. Pay her the $750 for what I think is more than fair for minimal work.
2. Pay her the $1600, and write it off as a lesson, and keep peace in the family. This would also avoid a lawsuit, which I would not be surprised about
3. Write a letter to her broker, inform them of the unprofessional service, and pay nothing.
What would you do?
