Sellers, pls stop offering pay buyer's agent commission!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am a buyer not represented by an agent and just walked out of a deal whereby the selling agent tried to force me sign an agency agreement with her affiliated buyer's agent. For 3% commission! She called, screamed and threatened me. I walked away

Your post doesn't match your heading.
1) If sellers want to PAY the buyer's agent, fine with me, but your heading says "stop."
2) Your actual post says that the seller's agent tried to get you to sign up with her buyer's agent, so clearly the seller wasn't offering to pay.

Huh? I think the implication is that the seller was offering 3% to buyer’s agent, and the seller is trying to push OP to use an affiliated buyers agent to get the 3%. This is a pretty bold and almost fraudulent thing to do.

Oh, wow. So, you're saying the Seller is willing to pay 3% to the agent the buyer brings to the table? And the Seller's agent then was pushing the buyer (who had no agent) to sign with a colleague of the Seller's agent, in order to get that 3% more that the Seller would otherwise not have to pay since the Buyer had no agent???

yep.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If they are offering to pay no need for you to sign a contract.

But how would this "buyer's" agent get paid if they don't have an actual contract with the buyer?

There will be no agent so the credit will go back to the sellers profit, no?

Not exactly- this is a negotiation between the buyer and seller. So if the buyer knows the seller was prepared to offer 3% to the buyer agent that they no longer have to pay, the buyer could ask for that 3% to be earmarked for other closing costs, a price reduction, etc. Or the buyer could also use the extra 3% to the seller as a way to improve the strength of their offer in a competitive market.

[Anonymous]

Please leave negative reviews for the agent on google and yelp. Just keep the review factual and free of speculation. It's a good way for us to work to stop this madness.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am a buyer not represented by an agent and just walked out of a deal whereby the selling agent tried to force me sign an agency agreement with her affiliated buyer's agent. For 3% commission! She called, screamed and threatened me. I walked away

Those boots are made for walking, that's just what they'll do, everyone else will get a house, but not the likes of you.

[Anonymous]

Where can you report this?

[Anonymous]

Did you let the seller know what happened?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Did you let the seller know what happened?

This. I would leave a note on their door with my contact information.

[Anonymous]

It's so crazy how rotten this profession is, and yet people pay tens of thousands to these agents on the belief that the agents will act in their best interests. There are, of course, some honest agents, but the problem is that the profession is not really serious about rooting out the bad actors. What the OP reported should be automatic grounds for the seller's agent losing their license, simple as that.

[Anonymous]

Didn’t happen.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Report this to your state attorney general office. Documented cases helps win class action/antitrust lawsuits.

this. they can't do that. I buy and sell all my own properties. There is no reason to pay anyone 3%. I've saved $100ks on properties. Most agents are very poor /the bar to entry is too low, which is why there are too
many bored housewifes out there posing as professionals

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I agree that posters need to start naming names. The DC area agents are generally trying to follow the new rules, but there are some terrible agents out there that need to be identified and pushed out of the market. These agents are often the most visible and people tend to think they are good because their face is all over the neighborhood.

I provided the agent's name on this forum a week ago, and the message was deleted same day. The listing went offline. She called Monday to scream at me. Yes, I wish I had this recorded but I am in DC and she could be in MD which is a 2-party consent state for recording. I initially agreed to bribe her by hiring someone she pointed at to be my "buyer's agent", although I already sent her my offer that was all drafted and signed. She explicitly said that she wouldn't be giving my offer to the seller unless I hire that person. My offer was accepted next day ( of course, with 6% total commission!). But I started feeling mistrust and highly uncomfortable with this whole situation, and walked away without co-signing and giving them a check.

Complete criminals I even worry now they know some of my financials from the offer language

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If they are offering to pay no need for you to sign a contract.

yes there is. that’s what the recent settlement requires. and of course the deal is between the buyer and seller - not the buyer’s agent and the seller.

I am OP. Compass has good practices: they already introduced a flat fee but the buyer doesn't have to sign any agency if they are unrepresented, it's illegal to require this to pass the offer to the seller.

This agent was Keller Williams Preferred properties. The selling agent didn't explain to her seller that if the buyer is unrepresented then the fee is only hers (2.5%). The seller signed a contract with selling agent with clause allowing for buyer's agent compensation. If the seller removed the clause, buyers wouldn't be pressed to deal with affiliated "buyer's agent".

I actually think they simply split the cash between themselves, as the guy who was my "buyer agent" didn't even draft the offer. I did all the paperwork with my lawyer and he only attached the standard comparables sheet

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Did you let the seller know what happened?

This. I would leave a note on their door with my contact information.

The seller is in retirement facility, property owned by a bank. I walked away as had to offer 3% more for it to equalize my offer with "all cash" buyers simply to cover this excessive commission to the "buyer agent". If the property was 3% less to me/I wasn't represented and acted on my own as originally planned, I would have bought it. The house had 4 bids eventually the seller will get 10-20K less than I offerred

[Anonymous]

I just listed a house and one of the seller's told me about this thread. As I told her, the best thing about the lawsuits is that it is weeding out many agents who have paralyzed the business for years. Annual dues of less than $1K are due from local, state, and national realtor orgs and it's giving the clingers a reason to leave the business. So thanks for that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Did you let the seller know what happened?

This. I would leave a note on their door with my contact information.

The seller is in retirement facility, property owned by a bank. I walked away as had to offer 3% more for it to equalize my offer with "all cash" buyers simply to cover this excessive commission to the "buyer agent". If the property was 3% less to me/I wasn't represented and acted on my own as originally planned, I would have bought it. The house had 4 bids eventually the seller will get 10-20K less than I offerred

Instead of leaving a note on the door, write a letter and mail it to the home address. Chances are real mail is being forwarded to someone--hopefully a relative that is handling the retirees affairs.