I contacted a seller’s agent in MN as an unrepresented buyer and signed this home tour agreement. The seller’s agent was happy to show the listing and didn’t give me any pushback. When we decided to put in an offer, we discussed dual agency, but he was honest about there being a conflict of interest. After some back and forth, he agreed that if we did dual agency, he would not charge a buyer’s agent commission.In MN we have a "Home Tour Agreement". The wording is such that you are not signing a buyer rep agreement, and no fees can be charged for showing the property. This agreement works well when we get sign calls on a listing.
We decided to have an attorney represent us. The attorney wrote an offer that included a buyer’s commission of 2% for himself. He ended up agreeing to 1.5% in the final counteroffer. If we hadn’t gotten a buyer’s commission, our agreement with him reverted to his hourly charge at our expense.
At home, in another Midwest state, I spoke with a realtor to sell my home. We’re not ready to list yet. He said he was open to negotiating the commission, especially since he thinks our house will sell easily.
Both houses are over $750k, which likely influences the agents’ openness to negotiating.
I am curious about some people saying seller’s agents won’t show a house to unrepresented buyers. That’s never been my experience. Over the past 20 years, I’ve toured at least 5 homes with seller’s agents as an unrepresented buyer. I’m always up front about not being represented and not wanting to engage them as my realtor.
If the seller’s agent is a fiduciary, how would they justify not showing a house to a prospective buyer? That’s wouldn’t be representing their client’s best interest. If I found out my seller’s agent was refusing to show my house to certain buyers, I would nuke them in a review, and probably file an ethics complaint with the board of realtors. If a seller’s agent refused to show me a house, I’d do the same. Why would anyone want to hire that person to represent them in a transaction?
Statistics: Posted by Miakis — Wed Dec 04, 2024 9:29 am — Replies 260 — Views 21732