I was driving through a pretty heavy rain storm on the way back from our monthly support session, when I got a phone call from a friend of mine that was trying to sell his house on his own...that's right, a FSBO.
He calls me on occasion to let me know if the ideas and tips that I periodically give him, work or didn't work. (its actually good to get feedback...since it allows for me to keep tweaking and re-tweaking the various marketing systems and messages that I use on a daily basis) And yes, I will eventually get the listing!
Anyway, this call is a little different. He relays to me, a scenario that he just went through that kind of had me at a little bit of a disadvantage...and feeling somewhat uneasy.
A woman called on his ad and asked if the house was still available. He replied that it was. The woman then identified herself as a Realtor and that she defintely had a buyer for his house, but that she would only bring the buyer to him if he signed a listing agreement.
After a couple of phone calls and an email (the agent apparently Googled my friends name and got his email addess) between my friend and the agent, my friend decided not to continue speakng with this agent.
He told me that he later found out that "the Buyer" was the agent's husband. My friend wanted to know if that was the normal way to do business...it seemed a bit unethical to him.
Now, I have two issues with this scenario.
1. It goes against my gain to tell a seller that you have a buyer for their house, but you'll only get the two together if they sign a listing agreement. (after they sign the listing agreement, a "real buyer" never actually appears. Instead, the seller is given one of several excuses as to why "their Buyer" couldn't buy the house. Because they changed their mind, or found a better house, or the mortgage rep made a mistake in the pre-approval process...you get the picture.) I run across this ploy far too often, and I certainly feel that this is definitely unfair to the seller.
This sounds very similar to the "I'll provide you with a Free home inspection if you list with me" sales come-on. NJ Law requires the free gift or service to be given to the prospect regardless if they list or not. and be so stated in all correspondence, or risk losing your license
2. If I know that my spouse and I are looking to purchase investment properties, and one of us is licensed, is it shrewd to approach a FSBO and require them to sign a listing agreement before I submit an offer to purchase...just so I can squeeze out a commission, or is it bad business?
I would like to know your opinion. What would you do? How would you respond to a friend that was faced with this scenario?
I am putting these two scenarios in front of our board for my own clarification. As far as I'm concerned, I would never do something like this...I like to sleep soundly at night.
Thank you for taking the time to read this and I hope all of you have great successes,
Edward Fox
Sellstate Innovative Realty
333 Tilton Rd.
Northfied, NJ 08225
cell-1-866-4Ed-Foxx
cell-609-513-2989
fax-609-704-8526
Comments(8)