Real Estate Agent ethical question for you...

I have a scenario that I'd like you all to weigh in on, and tell me your opinion if you could...

Chain of events:

-DH and I go to an open house on Sunday
-Seller's agent asks us to put our names down on a sign-in sheet.
-I put our names, addresses, phone # down and under "Buyer's Real Estate Agent", I put none.
-We look at the house and mull it over that night.
-The next day, I email the Seller's agent to ask a couple of new questions about the house, he answers me the same day.
-We decide to get our ducks in a row. We start getting mortgage preapprovals going, an attorney, an inspector, etc.
-We find out that our friend who is a mortgage broker just so happens to be a realtor also. He gives us advice and information for free, and we decide to retain his services as our realtor.
-Our friend/realtor calls the Seller's agent to put in an offer, and the Seller's agent tells him this:

Because we wrote on the sign-in sheet that we had no realtor, and because we found the house as a result of his advertisement (on MLS), it is not ethical to expect him to deal with our realtor. That he only wants to deal with us directly, and it's the ethical way in real estate dealings.

Without giving my own opinion, my questions to you are:

1. Is he correct?

or

2. Is this a ploy so that he doesn't have to split his commission

and

3. If you were in my shoes, would you force the issue or just deal because it's possible that he would sabotage the deal becausee he's not happy with the situation?

Message edited 7/25/2007 6:01:44 PM.

Re: Real Estate Agent ethical question for you...

ethically, your friend/realtor should respect that the other agents advertisement/open house was what led you to that property. couple that with the fact that you put "none" under Buyer's Real Estate Agent, well then i too would be a bit miffed if all of a sudden i'm getting an offer from a REA on behalf of buyers that I showed.

HOWEVER, you did NOT sign an Agency Disclosure form with that listing agent, so technically, you can use whatever agent you want.

Should the listing agent try to sabotage the offer because he's pi$$y about the situation - well then he's stupid. You can file a formal complaint, and he can lose his license. His obligation is to work in the best interest of his seller, and turning away potential buyers would be doing the opposite.

First thing your friend/realtor should do, is call the listing agent and make an appointment to show you the property again, WITH him there. Then your agent should ask to present the offer in person to the homeowners. HTH. Keep us posted.

Re: Real Estate Agent ethical question for you...

We were in a similar situation. We looked at a house with no agent, then got an agent. After seeing more houses, and the price of the house we saw dropped, we wanted to make an offer. Our agent asked if we had signed in at the orignial open house, which we did not.

Our agent made an appt to see the house, pretending we were first timers, looked, and then made the offer.

Had we signed in, I dont know if our agents would have been able to represent us.

Re: Real Estate Agent ethical question for you...

Thanks ladies! I appreciate the info.

Message edited 7/25/2007 6:46:37 PM.

Re: Real Estate Agent ethical question for you...

These are just my opinions:

1 - yes, as MrsERod explained

2. honestly, why should he lose his commission (and on the fllip side - why should your friend get it)? The original REA is the one who did the work - it was his effort that got you to the open house in the first place

3. I would deal with the original agent if this is a house you really want (and honestly, because I think it is the correct thing to do). Although he does have to work in the interest of the seller, if there are a lot of interested parties, why would he deal with the added potential hassle of your situation? If you were the only interested party, then you obviously have a little more power, but I still don't know if I would push it.

Message edited 7/25/2007 7:20:34 PM.

Re: Real Estate Agent ethical question for you...

i have a problem with being too stubborn sometimes... but if I didnt sign anything and just signed in at an open house, then i would want my friend to get the comission... when we bought our house, i would search MLSLI and then ask my RE to make appts at the houses that we liked... I did just as much work as anyone else... but back to my stubborness.... if the other RE was really sticking to his guns about you having to deal with him, i think i would be annoyed, then i would say fine, and then give a lower offer for the house and tell the RE to cut their commission to make up the difference to the seller... is this the right thing to do? i dont know...that is just my pig headed stubborness talking...and I sometimes do bite my nose off to spite my face...

good luck!

Re: Real Estate Agent ethical question for you...

Re: Real Estate Agent ethical question for you...

My last sounds heavily snotty.

I suppose it's naive of me to think that I would encounter people in this process who were solely concerned with serving their clients. Everyone has to make money, and some act more aggressively to do that than others.

But here's a question... Had I had a realtor already, would he have been required to come to the open house with me to "earn" his commission? Would the seller's agent been less attentive, and not answered my questions? Or would he have cautioned me not to go to the open house, and instead made an appointment so we could see it on our own?

I'm still trying to see the distinction in this situation and I honestly do want to know.

Re: Real Estate Agent ethical question for you...

In the future, you need to 1) bring your agent with you to open houses, 2) have your agent contact the other agent before you make a move, 3) or sign in with your agent's name at open houses.

I know it doesn't seem like the other agent did the "work", but he did and he rightfully deserves to make the sale.

Re: Real Estate Agent ethical question for you...

Re: Real Estate Agent ethical question for you...

Posted by greenfreak

My last sounds heavily snotty.

I suppose it's naive of me to think that I would encounter people in this process who were solely concerned with serving their clients. Everyone has to make money, and some act more aggressively to do that than others.

But here's a question... Had I had a realtor already, would he have been required to come to the open house with me to "earn" his commission? Would the seller's agent been less attentive, and not answered my questions? Or would he have cautioned me not to go to the open house, and instead made an appointment so we could see it on our own?

I'm still trying to see the distinction in this situation and I honestly do want to know.

Re: Real Estate Agent ethical question for you...

Thanks everyone, for understanding my frustration and answering my questions!

Re: Real Estate Agent ethical question for you...

All I can say is WHOAH.....

we're beginning to dabble with the idea of real estate, and I had NO IDEA that if we wanted our own realtor, we would have to retain them prior to attending open houses.........

thank you girls soooo much for sharing

Re: Real Estate Agent ethical question for you...

Posted by marriedinportjeff

All I can say is WHOAH.....

we're beginning to dabble with the idea of real estate, and I had NO IDEA that if we wanted our own realtor, we would have to retain them prior to attending open houses.........

thank you girls soooo much for sharing

Re: Real Estate Agent ethical question for you...

Posted by greenfreak

Posted by marriedinportjeff

All I can say is WHOAH.....

we're beginning to dabble with the idea of real estate, and I had NO IDEA that if we wanted our own realtor, we would have to retain them prior to attending open houses.........

thank you girls soooo much for sharing

This right here is why, no matter what happens on this website, it's totally worth it to hang around.

It's awesome when you can get and receive help like this.

Re: Real Estate Agent ethical question for you...

When we were working with an agent, he gave us a bunch of cards to leave at any open houses we went to without him. And if we didn't have any with us, we would just tell the agent there that we were working with an agent.
It matters because of the commissions the agents get, so I can understand why they make a big deal about it.

I did get annoyed at one agent once who showed a house to my father. He was looking for me, but, he went to the house on his own and then gave me the realtor's information. I called her to set up an appointment and when she found out I had a realtor already, she told me that she had better get the commission for the house because she took her time to show it to my dad. I was really offended by her tone, and the presumption that my father had anything to do with ME buying a house, so I crossed that house off my list and never went to see it.
I will also never use that real estate company for anything.

Re: Real Estate Agent ethical question for you...

My instinct is that your hunch about not wanting to split commission is correct.

Re: Real Estate Agent ethical question for you...

I was confused as well. One time, I actually called to find out information about a house instead of going through my realtor who is a family friend. That was a big no-no.

I'd say, go for the house if you want it (that's what my realtor told me a few times when he was only going to get a "referral" fee on an exclusive).

But, if you don't go forward, next time make sure to at least write it down who your realtor is.

My realtor asked me that as long as I go to open houses, let them know I'm represented by him. And ironically just yesterday he got a call from another agent (they know each other) who wanted some feedback from us about her open house this past weekend.

Re: Real Estate Agent ethical question for you...

I didn't think you could write a mortage on a house you sell?

I am pretty sure Jake just told me that this week- b/c the person office he is taking over is opening a real estate office instead and we were talking about it

Re: Real Estate Agent ethical question for you...

Posted by Beth1210

I didn't think you could write a mortage on a house you sell?

Re: Real Estate Agent ethical question for you...

Posted by marriedinportjeff

All I can say is WHOAH.....

we're beginning to dabble with the idea of real estate, and I had NO IDEA that if we wanted our own realtor, we would have to retain them prior to attending open houses.........

thank you girls soooo much for sharing

Re: Real Estate Agent ethical question for you...

Why do people sign things without reading them and fully understanding what they mean? I have been to abot 100 open houses and I bet you the form you signed stated that you either disclosed the buyer's agent then or would purchase the home through the listing agent.

You would have had to disclose that you were working with a buyer's agent at the open house to use one to purchase this home -- you signed a sheet that disclosed that you were not working with a realtor. Now, some realtors might be fine with you having a buyer's agent later in the game, but in these circumstances, they don't have to at all. Had you not signed anything, it would be different, but you did. The other realtor doesn't have to work with your buyer's agent b/c you agreed that any purchase of this home would be through the listing agent only.

I am a licensed real estate broker, though I don't work as one. I am representing myself and FH in the purchase of our home. I always disclosed myself as the buyer's agent at open houses with that form. I also always told the realtor this even if they didn't have the form.

Sorry to sound harsh, but the other realtor doesn't have to work with your buyer's agent, and your agent should respect that.

Re: Real Estate Agent ethical question for you...

Posted by baghag

Posted by marriedinportjeff

All I can say is WHOAH.....

we're beginning to dabble with the idea of real estate, and I had NO IDEA that if we wanted our own realtor, we would have to retain them prior to attending open houses.........

thank you girls soooo much for sharing

I had no idea about that, either!

Bookmaked this thread for future reference.

Message edited 7/26/2007 9:00:18 AM.

Re: Real Estate Agent ethical question for you...

Posted by Karen



In the future, you need to 1) bring your agent with you to open houses, 2) have your agent contact the other agent before you make a move, 3) or sign in with your agent's name at open houses.

I know it doesn't seem like the other agent did the "work", but he did and he rightfully deserves to make the sale.

Message edited 7/26/2007 8:59:36 AM.

Re: Real Estate Agent ethical question for you...

I don't know all the ins and outs, BUT, I was specifically told NOT to sign in at open houses for this very reason. At every open house DH & I went to alone (and all of them were "discovered" by either us or my mother) we refused to sign in. I told the agent under the advice of my attorney we were not signing in.