What if My Seller Asks for a 'Listing Exclusion?'

Jennifer,

Hello. As always, great advice! What you suggesteed I have done in the past on three occasions,. Exclusions don't bother me as the odds of that purchase panning out are pretty high. After the thirty days are up I  get the excluded buyer's name and I try to help that person purchsse the home or help them find a new home. I kill two birds with one stone sort of speak. as a matter of fact  I just listed a home today and the seller asked for an exclusion. I gave the excluded buyer 30 days to secure financing and buy the home and of course, I did offer my sellers my services if this was to transpire for a fee.

Thanks again jennifer you awesome!

PS: Looking forward to THE SUMMER OF SOUL!

Jeffrey Mangus

WWW.HOMETEAMWV.COM

Jennifer. You are right. The guy from work almost never buys the house. lol

If the Seller wants an exclusion, I would not list the property until they change their mind.

It shows a lack of respect for the work that I am about to do. i understand that the guy at work never buys the house, but it is starting the relationship on the wrong foot. I am VERY committed to my clients, and I expect the same in return.

- Harrison Painter

Yep, happens often.  I do 30 days maximum though.  Never had one of these exclusions buy the home.

Wow, at this point Jennifer you have 100 comments. Well here is our 2 cents worth anyway!  We accept the exclusion with a 2 week limit.  You are right, we have never had the "excluding" party come through! Go for it was good advice!  

I've done it many times, but always limit the time to three weeks.  I tell them if these people have any real interest in the property they will certainly go to contract within three weeks, if not they never had any intention of buying.

Jennifer,

I would put an expriration to the exclusion. For example, two weeks. All the efforts could down the drain if it drags out.

Jerry Gray CRB,CRS  /Prudential Carolinas Realty in Winston Salem, NC

Great blog and discussion! I just want to address Virginia's concern about if an excluded buyer has an agent present an offer. When a buyer is excluded from a listing agreement then it is up to the seller to notify the buyer and let them know that they are excluded and if they wish to work with an agent then the buyer will be responsible for the commission. If the seller fails to do this then the buyer may still be responsible for their agent's commission as this is addressed in the buyer agency agreement(check your state forms). In TN our buyer agency agreements have a place to list excluded properties for buyers so it works both ways. To be on the safe side, I would check your local MLS board to see what their guidelines are for listing in the MLS. If nothing else a short note to agents in the MLS comments may suffice such as "coop commission subject to buyer exclusion, contact LA before submitting offers." This way you know before you get an offer if this is from an excluded buyer and there's no surprises for the buyer's agent.

I have a seller w/ an exclusion right now (my first one). I didn't put any time frame on the exclusion, we'll see how that plays out. All I know is that since the listing date a few weeks back, this person's name hasn't been mentioned once. I'm guessing it won't happen...

Thanks for everyone's insight!

I have done several exclusions in the past, but I have never thought to use a time frame.  I will be using one now.  This is why I play in the rain!

Jennifer, you asked about the comments that mentioned putting pressure on the potential buyer by giving them a time limit and you wondered how that had any impact.  What I found in the few instances where I was asked to do an exclusion was the seller was giving a special lower price to the potential buyer because of the fact that no commission was going to be due, once the exclusion is past, that buyer would have to up the offer to cover those added seller expenses.

We regularly see this, and routinely add the exclusions to the listing. We will put a 30 day deadline on the exclusion.

I have put in an exclusion for 30 days too for a potential buyer - however once a seller told me he wanted a chiropractor written in as an exlusion but didn't know his name - gave the "no name chiropractor" 30 days exclusion!

Jennifer, I agree 110%... take the listing and get to work finding a buyer before the 'other guy' even has a chance to cut you out of the deal.

Jennifer,

I always tell the seller I will be glad to give the party an exclusion, but I can only give them the exclusion for 2 weeks.  I tell them a lot of times people will tell owners they might be interested in their property because they feel uncomfortable telling them they are not interested in it.  I then instruct them to call the exclusions as soon as I leave to let them know about the time constraint.  If they are interested, they will move on it.

We have to indicate on our MLS if there are exclusions on the listing.  By getting them out of the way in the first 2 weeks, it prevents the owner from calling them up after you have spent a lot of time and money marketing their property and offering it to the exclusion for less than your current offer.  

Your right, get the home on the market & exclude the person for 10 days. You have a better chance with a lottery ticket then the seller has with that buyer purchasing his home. How many times have FSBO's thought someone was going to put an offer in on their home and nothing happens. He just wants to be sure that tire kicker is excluded. Makes the seller feel better and you've got your listing! Win-win.

I agree with you 100% Jennifer.  Save energy for other stuff.

Wow..it just slapped me in the forehead..if the excluded party drags in another agent then they have betrayed the trust given to them by the seller.. So...write the offer Mr or Mrs Buyers agent..and I will take my listing side..Thanks..and every one have a nice day! 

Just found this.  Thank you Jennifer.  I just recently took a listing where I had the same exact thing happen.  I wrote in the exclusion and took listing.  My manager felt I shouldn't have done it, so I was glad to read your point of view on it.  Thank you.