I was working with a first time home buyer. They had called me about one of my listings in Mckinney TX, one of the surrounding cities of Frisco Texas where I do a major part of my business. This particular property was already under contract as is often the case in the current market in North Texas. They had found my listing while searching Trulia.
We spoke and I asked them the typical questions a good agent asks in order to uncover what they were looking for, what was driving them to make a purchase, etc… I actually showed them a house that night which we all agreed was more focused on being a rental property rather than a home they would want to live in as they moved forward. I explained how I worked and set up some searches for them and we moved on to find the nest property.
They looked at new homes, one in particular where the sales person tried to sell them a home without me (let’s not go there.) The next meeting we found the right builder, in Celina Texas, with an appropriate lot. They wanted to see the model so they said we would talk more after they went to another location to see the model. We spoke and they wanted to try and build a different model. We agreed to meet at the builder the next day and focus on a solution. We had to postpone that meeting as the builder’s rep was not available.
While we waited, my buyer found a person who they worked with who had purchased a home from the same builder and sales person. They used a discount broker who gave them 2% cash rebate back to them at closing. While they had some issues with the sales person, they said everything was taken care of by the time they closed.
Yes you guessed it. They asked me if I would provide the same 2% cash back rebate. I said no and laid out the many reasons. We went back and forth for a couple of emails. Eventually they said they wanted to work with the other agent. What do you do? Yes they were registered with me with that builder. Yes we had an agreement. But do you really hold the couple's feet to the fire because you have an agreement in this situation? In this case I had to let the buyer go. I completely released them from their obligation for several reasons.
They are a young couple fresh out of college trying to make a start for themselves. Buying their first home (in fact all their homes) should be a good experience for them. They may run into some issues with this other agent (if so lesson learned) but then again they may not and they will get their 2% (about $4k) to help them with upgrades. What reputation will I have if I make an issue of the agreement? I am not saying I would do this same thing in every circumstance but based on this particular situation I thought it best. With my experience, reputation and work ethic, I can easily look in the mirror and know I did the right thing. Any thoughts?
Comments (7)Subscribe to CommentsComment