My question is simple here -
Do sellers believe that it is a listing agent's job to show the house to any buyer whether or not they have an agent?
I have been asking this of my sellers over the last few weeks and I get a "Yes!" And, it is followed up with "Isn't that the job of the agent?"
So whereas we may be fighting about procurring cause... as agents, the public absolutely thinks that they should and can call the listing agent to see the home and answer questions.
One of my sellers said that if the listing agent isn't going to show the house to buyers with an agent, that they should just say on their voicemail that if you want to see the house, call another agent. Why confuse the public they said?
One of my clients saw an 850K house with the listing agent and told them that they had their house listed with me but that they had not signed a buyer agreement but that they were going to use us. The agent blasted us and forgot to go back to ask again if they were still going to use us - I guess just thinking that after his blasting they would change their mind. He showed the home.
Then, my client wanted to make an offer on the home with me.
I called the broker and they said that they would pay nothing to us as they had shown the home and that they buyer said they were not working with anyone.
At the showing, the agent did not discuss buyer brokerage or who represents whom in the transaction. The agent did not follow up with the buyer. The agent did not give the buyer a seller's disclosure, comps or anything else, they did not disclose in the listing that they were paying less commission etc...
Now, we get paid nothing?
Sad thing is for the seller that the buyer got so pissed off from all of this including the unprofessional blasting that they decided not to buy the house!
That was a month ago - house is still on the market - another house now belongs to the buyer!
Cooperation gets homes sold and the listing agent of the 850K house would still be making over 24K on the listing side. But more importantly, the seller would not be suffering on the market. They had a buyer!
The rest of the story as told below... after many of you responded.
Okay so here is more to the story that I left out before - sorry, I didn't expect so many posts and action here...
The buyer/seller was our client for over 1 year selling a 1.5 million dollar home and downsizing to 850K. At the beginning of their listing we had a buyer's agency with them because they received an offer on their home. The offer did not work out, they did not move and the buyer agency expired. We discussed the buyer agency with them at expiration and they said that they were too heartbroken from the last offer that they would just wait to see homes when they got another offer.
On Sunday night (the day before Memorial day), a couple came by their home (without their agent) and caught them in the yard. They showed the home and the couple told them that they were going to bring their agent the next morning and in the meantime they were going to get an offer together.
My client panicked that night and starting looking at homes on the internet. My partner who they had been working with had called them earlier in the week and of course over a year of them being on the market they became friends. My partner told her that her daughter was graduating from high school over that weekend and that she had a whole bunch of family coming.
On Memorial Day, my client called our office and left a message that we did not pick up until around noon telling us that she was getting an offer. In the meantime, trying to be helpful because she knew my partner was busy, she called the listing agents of several homes and got this listing agent... that is where the story above comes in...
Thanks for your responses.
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