Expert: Hans Weber, Licensed Broker Associate - 2/24/2004

Question
On 2/20/2004 I listed a house with a broker, but told the agent that I was working with several neighbors in the area and wanted to exclude them from a commission shold one of them buy. She said fine just fax her the names that night,when I got home and they would be excluded. I faxed her the names that evening.

As it turned out the house was sold to one of the people on the list.She has since come back with talk of some offers, but I said it was too late.
Two questions.
#1 I signed the contract and after the sale (my mistake) I read that all sales were commissionable. While she has said nothing about a commission, she continues to call and claiming to have better offers which I don't want to even consider as I made the sale in good faith. Can the realtor come after me for a commission?
#2 I really liked the agent and want to send a small check as a token of appreciation since she appeared to really want to work hard. Would that be appropriate, assuming I have no issues with realtor on the commission.
Thank you very much.

Answer
Hi Bill,

Thank you for your question.

If one of the people you had excluded form the listing agreement buys your home there is no commission.  That is the purpose of the exclusion clause and your copy should show the names or refer to your faxed list.

Your agent claims to have better offers which she would like to present to you.  You should let her do that.  Even though they contain a commission they may result in more dollars for you if they are high enough, so herar her out.

If you want to send her a gift you certainly may, but that is up to you.  Another gift would be to give her name to other buyers or sellers you know so she can help them with their real estate transactions.

Hans