I think you have to look at this from the agent's PoV as well: if they are right on the bubble to making an extra $10k, but isn't because the buyer has magically decided to pay the buyer's commission "out of pocket", this would be incredibly frustrating. I'd probably offer to just split it down the middle, and explain that I don't believe I'm legally obligated to give him the extra commission (and we can get legal opinions if he wants to push it), but because I recognize how frustrated he/she might be, I'm offering half. I'd then leave it up to them.
You also need to keep in mind, that at this point you do not have a lawyer's opinion, so you might very well be in the wrong here, so pushing this might get yourself into legal jeopardy. Thus I'd structure my offer as either "I get a lawyer [my cost] to find out and you might get $0 [because you forced me to pay for the lawyer] or let's split it down the middle", either way I'm not in any legal jeopardy.
You also need to keep in mind, that at this point you do not have a lawyer's opinion, so you might very well be in the wrong here, so pushing this might get yourself into legal jeopardy. Thus I'd structure my offer as either "I get a lawyer [my cost] to find out and you might get $0 [because you forced me to pay for the lawyer] or let's split it down the middle", either way I'm not in any legal jeopardy.
Statistics: Posted by mrspock — Tue Feb 25, 2025 2:16 am — Replies 25 — Views 1566