I'm Giving Up My Commission Because it's the RIGHT THING TO DO!

I'm Giving Up My Commission Because it's the RIGHT THING TO DO!

I represent a local bank as the listing agent for one of their bank-owned properties.  Monday I received a call inquiring about the property and the Prospect asked to set up a showing.  We met Monday night and they are a lovely couple who is very interested in the property.

In Texas when you represent both the Seller and the Buyer you are an Intermediary.  Per Texas law, "The Intermediary is prohibited from acting so as to favor one party over the other, and may not reveal confidential information obtained from one party without the written instructions of that party, unless disclosure of that information is required by TRELA, court order, or the information materially relates to the condition of the property".

The Prospects went home and thought about the property and had several questions for me regarding restrictions and such.  I was happy to answer the questions and then, today, I began to feel a bit weird.  I don't know how else to explain it.  Just weird.  Like I know too much.

So I spoke with my Broker and asked that we assign another agent in our office to act as the Buyer's Agent.  While this still leaves our brokerage in an intermediary relationship, the Buyer's have their own agent representing their own interests.  

I'm not thrilled about giving up part of my commission, but it's the right, good and honest thing to do.

Fellow agents: I hope that if you're ever in this situation, you'll do the RIGHT thing. 

Homebuyers:  You need to have someone representing your own interests when purchasing any type of Real Estate.  So make sure you have your own agent to act as a "Buyer's Agent" and not just the Listing Agent.