Expert: Dick Dennis - 10/7/2006

Question
Hello:

I own rental property in Las Vegas, NV, and I was fortunate to stumble upon someone at my job who is interested in buying it from me.  He is a SBA lender that owns several other rental properties and wants to retain the current tenet and property manager.  However, I have some concerns.  He and I both live in LA and the property is in Las Vegas.  I have an agreement with my property manager that states, "If I enter into an agreement with the current tenet to purchase the property, then she is entitled to a 3% commission..."  However, I found this potential buyer on my own, so I would assume she would not be entitled to a commission. Because I do not need a REALTOR, should I hire an attorney or will I be obligated to use the property manager who is also a REALTOR to go over the offer sheet etc?  I bought this house when I was 25 and now I'm 28; meaning that I have no experience in selling what so ever.  Thank you for your time and for any additional advice provided.

Answer
When a real estate agent earns a commission, he/she is the PROCURER. That is the key word. There is no judge in the land that would agree to pay your property manager a commission when YOU were the one who procurred the buyer.

You want to make sure the transaction goes through properly, especially since you say you have no experience selling real estate. Therefore, you should hire a REAL ESTATE attorney unless you know of a highly knowledgeable Realtor who could handle the transaction for a nominal fee.

That clause in the rental agreement is only used to protect the property manager who procurred the tenant. So, you have no concern about having to pay the manager a fee since it is not the tenant who is buying the property.

I do wish you well, Delicia.

Dick Dennis           dixiedee13@aol.com