You Be The Judge: Should This Real Estate Agent Be Paid?

"Working with the prospect"...does that signed buyer agency agreement with this stellar broker? You said the FSBO put that he would co-op, participate with local agents on his marketing propaganda. Did he sign anything with the madder than a wet hen stellar broker that's crank factor is boiling hot, blowing steam? Or just a blanket statement that seller agrees to participate for 3% with a licensed real estate broker? Devil in the details.

Why would the seller pay the real estate agent?  If the agent did not bring the buyer, he does not rate a commission......unless the buyer had signed a buyer agency agreement with the agent! Then the buyer owes the agent a commission, not the seller. If the buyer signed a buyer's agency agreement, then the buyer should have let the agent negoiate the deal to include the commission. Sounds a bit unprofessional to me.

That is a NO! Unfortunately for the agent, he did not have a contract. As we all learn at one point or another in our career, our word is only as good as the paper it is written on. I think the buyer was a stinker to cheat an agent out of the deal, especially since he had worked with him for months. But you know the saying...buyers are L---s.  It is too bad not to have had a buyer's agency contract!  Do you have new buyers sign one?

The answer is "No".  It doesn't matter if this agent had been "so-called" working with these buyers for a long time or not.  You have to have something in writing prior to going into a FSBO or better yet, if the seller had asked the buyer's if they were working with an agent, because this seller wanted to sell.  Really doesn't matter.   The buyer's agent should have had a written agreement with the buyers that should something like this happened, and the buyer's possibly didn't disclose but wanted to save on what they thought was a lower price as a direct result of *screwing" their agent because just perhaps that didn't sign a buyer's agency agreement with this agent, that now, the agent wants what is due because he didn't protect his business to begin with? 

Hi Deborah. Yes, it most definitely would have mattered if there were a buyer's agency agreement.  The fee is negotiated between all three parties, but it is a fee the buyer has agreed to pay according to ageny agreement.  But if the agent was able to negotiate the seller paying for it, then all the better for the buyer. And the seller had advertised he would pay it too. The seller really made out if he got a comparable price to others that were "listed" on an MLS service, beccause he did not have to pay a commission out of his proceeds.

I do feel for the agent! I have had this happen to me, and I thought I had an agreement signed too. It was not all inclusive though, so even with an agreement, you need to be sure of what it is agreeing to, read it carefully, they are not all the same.

It really is not the seller's responsibility to ask. They obviously thought they could do it without an agent to begin with. The seller probably knew an agent would try to get the 3% and he didn't want to pay it....more money in his pocket. The buyer was the real schmuck here though!

Howdy and Evenen there Deborah

I don't believe the agent, should get anything from the selle of this home.

Howdy and Afternoon Deborah

I just happen to be a misplaced Southern Grand State of Missouri cowboy. I do have family down Houston way, and alot of mighty good friends, from all over the Grand State of Texas.

Will my lady, is from these here parts. When one of the wise acres up here ask me, how did we end up with someone like you in our State, I just look right in the eye, and tell them that I'm here under orders from President Jefferson Davis and General Jo Shelby. lol

Sure did get a real hoot out of the polar bears raisen. I'd like to extend an invite to ya to join my good friends Carl and Ceil Winters over San Antonio way and I, at our monthly hang out blog post. Its always posted in the Texas groups.

P.S. so ya don't think your a seeing things, I've actually got two blogs here in the AR community.