Expert: Dick Dennis - 7/15/2006

Question
We have our house for sale through a realtor and have recently
found two homes that are for sale by owner that we really like.
When spaeking with the owners of the homes, neither one wants
anything to do with a realtor.  When I spoke to our realtor about
this she said that if the sellers didn't want to pay her
commission then we would have to.  Our biggest complaint is
that we have been doing all the searching for homes and calling
on her to get us appointments, but she is rarely doing anything
on her end unless we contact her.  We really like both homes but
hate to lose one due to having a realtor involved.  What can we
do here, is the commission able to be bargained, or is the 3%
locked, and can we convince the home owners to hold the house
until our contract is up.  Any advice would be appreciated.  We
just feel a commission to write up papers is a little much.

Thanks,
Adam Linson

Answer
You are not locked onto that Realtor, Adam, especially if yours is not willing to negotiate a lower commission, especially since you found the property you want to buy. There are Realtors out there who definitely would accept a lesser fee.

Or, engage a REAL ESTATE attorney to handle the paper work for you. His/her fee will probably be less anyway. You need someone to talk from your side of the table anyway. And if that Realtor you got, who is not performing like one should, is not willing to help, then it is his loss.

You patronize certain businesses on consistent basis because you like the service or product they offer you. This Realtor is one that should fall by the wayside pretty soon. And there will be a LOT of real estate agents who will be looking for jobs pretty soon.

I do wish you well.

Dick Dennis          dixiedee13@aol.com