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FSBO seller, shows house to potential buyer, then get's contacted by a Buyer's Agent asking for commission amount

Personal Finance & Money Asked on August 21, 2021

I have my house for sale. A potential buyer contacted me directly, I showed the house to his family and had various emails/telephone conversations with them. About a week later, I get a call from a realtor saying he has a potential buyer for my home, how much am I willing to pay if he brings a contract. I told him nothing, he’d have to get it from his clients. A few days later he sends over a P&S with the names of the buyers I had shown the house to…asking for $9,000 back to the buyers. Now, not only is the contract incomplete as the realtor has never seen the property, but he’s trying to charge me for acquiring a buyer who then sought out his help????? Is this typical? I do all the work but an agent requests payment from me because they hired him for help? In this state all closings take place at law offices, so that’s who I always use to close my deals.

3 Answers

The buyer has the right to be represented by an agent. Chances are that the buyer is not comfortable not being represented and asked the agent to make sure that they're comfortable in the process.

That being said, you also have the right to not sell to someone using an agent, but that's a much tighter range of buyers and usually consists of investors.

You might want to consider proceeding with the sale however to get it through with this buyer. If you want to avoid paying the 3% then make the terms so that the buyer pays the agent the 3%. You're free to demand any terms you want, as long as they're agreed to and make sense for both parties. If they don't agree to that, then you need to decide if the 3% is worth it to lose or not.

Answered by Jonast92 on August 21, 2021

Is this typical?

Yes. The buyer has a realtor to represent their best interests and part of that includes negotiating. Choosing to do FSBO is saving the 3% ($9,000) you would normally pay to the selling agent. As Jonast92 mentioned, you could decline to sell to someone using an agent or decline to pay the 3% as part of the negotiations. With or without an agent, negotiating a reduction in price, allowance for renovations, and/or splitting closing costs is typical and should be expected.

Negotiate with them. Make a counter offer. That's how this process works (at least in the US and several other countries).

Answered by BobbyScon on August 21, 2021

You’ve not tagged or otherwise indicated that this applies only to the US, so here’s the answer from a UK perspective. The “buyer’s agent” is most likely a fraudster trying to insert himself in the process, because buying agents are almost unknown and when they do exist, they are always paid by the buyer.

Answered by Mike Scott on August 21, 2021

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