Telling realtor to take a hike. Question. - Page 2

Jims5543 · 02-21-2007, 03:24 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Porsche-O-Phile
Just saw that last part. To be honest though, it doesn't sound like this guy's threat has any teeth to it. It's not like your realtor has done a helluva lot or has been very successful at getting anyone to bite on your property in the first place, so why on earth would the new buyer/developer have an incentive to hire him anyway?

He is not in a hurry to sell that is why. I am sure he will not mind selling it for a tidy profit in a year or 2 but for now he is mainly going to rent it out. I am sure he will hold out for a much higher price than he paid because it is a key lot. I whish I could afford to hang on to it, I am sure 2 years from now when a Burger King is on the property I am going to cry over spilt milk.

I just cannot keep holding up to it for much longer without getting into financial problems.

Steve Carlton · 02-21-2007, 03:30 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Jim Cesiro
LOL! I just got off the phone with the buyer who basically said, Well, it looks like we are dealing with an A-hole.

His intention is to rent the house out. He just told me that he will call the selling realtor and tell him to either let me out of the commision or he will not get the house as a listing... ever, he needs my house to complete a 6 lot block of lots/homes in order to sell the end of the block as potential commercial. I have the corner lot on the main road a VERY key lot.

So either I am let out of the contract or the realtor will not get my listing nor cooperation with his commercial sale.

I'm getting confused here. The selling agent should be the buyer's agent, the listing agent should be the one who wants the $5,000.

Your agent might not be entitled to a commission if you wait until his listing expires as long as he didn't procure the sale, *I believe*. If this buyer was brought to your house via anything your agent did, MLS or whatever, you're on the hook.

How is it the buyer has leverage over your agent? I'm not clear on that.

Jims5543 · 02-21-2007, 03:38 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Steve Carlton
I'm getting confused here. The selling agent should be the buyer's agent, the listing agent should be the one who wants the $5,000.

Your agent might not be entitled to a commission if you wait until his listing expires as long as he didn't procure the sale, *I believe*. If this buyer was brought to your house via anything your agent did, MLS or whatever, you're on the hook.

How is it the buyer has leverage over your agent? I'm not clear on that.

The agent has my house and 5 other 1/4 acre lots listed together as a potential commercial tract. My house is on a 4 lane highway and should have never been built but the City and its planners are idiots and they allowed houses to be build on major thoroughfares. So I bought this house to use as an office, and did for 1 year, then the city told me to cease or be fined.

So, if you buy 6 lots together you can rezone commercial and build a Burger King, Walgreens, whatever. This area where my house is in is in desperate need of commercial business. If I could hold out 2 more years I could probably cash in. But I cannot carry all this debt.

So if the guy buying from me chooses to not cooperate with the realtor he could kill his potential commercial sale. My lot, being a corner lot is VERY important to the sale of the 6 lots in a whole.

Even if the buyer of my house chose not to list with the realtor and list with another it would still hurt his potential commision.

It would be very smart for my realtor to cooperate and let my buyer list with him.

motion · 02-21-2007, 04:19 PM

I can never understand why people do not honor their contracts and commitments. This is what keeps attorneys in business. Do the right thing. Chalk it up to experience. Learn and grow.

Jims5543 · 02-21-2007, 04:30 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by motion
I can never understand why people do not honor their contracts and commitments. This is what keeps attorneys in business. Do the right thing. Chalk it up to experience. Learn and grow.

you know, if the realtor had sold it I would never even hesitated to pay. But, I sold it with my efforts and negotiating. No help from him. He rarely returned my calls, but now he is all over my every call, weird huh?

He lured me into signing with him because he told me he had some potential buyers and neede me onboard to make the deal happen. There were no buyers he just wanted to excite me onboard with the potential sale.

I am 4 days now from being out of contract with him. He did not sell my house nor does he have any leads at all. I am in a tight spot and need the house gone. I have told him this 10 times over. I told him to take ANY offer, we had 1 couple look at it twice, I told him to drop the price and tell them to make me ANY offer. He refused telling me I would look too desperate and they may low ball..... WTF!! I AM desperate and wanted out. He wanted to hold out for a better price and better commision.

If this guy was truly looking out for my best interests and not his my hous emight be gone already, instead he sees a quick commision on a hopeless cause.

I will probably end up paying the $5K don't worry and then he will be branded an A-hole and loose on the commision from listing my the house if the commercial deal pulls through.

Then that Karma thing will bite him. Or maybe not since he is listing 5 other lots.

Jims5543 · 02-21-2007, 04:32 PM

His commitment to me was to sell my house. He failed to sell my house. I sold my house and now he wants a commision for nothing. Seems pretty screwed up if you ask me.

Steve Carlton · 02-21-2007, 04:57 PM

How did the buyer find out your house was for sale?

If your buyer thinks your agent is an A-hole, I seriously doubt he would list it with him. So, I don't see much motivation for your agent to walk away from a $5,000 commission to maybe get a $6,000 one later.

$5,000 is 3% of about $167,000. Your payments, taxes, and insurance can't be much. What would your after-tax cash flow look like if you rented it out? There could be a nice payday if a commercial deal goes through.

Jims5543 · 02-21-2007, 05:06 PM

Homeowners insurance is $2500 a year, Taxes are $4000 a year mortgage payment is going to be 1700 a month becuase the homeowners insurance went up (doubled) and caused a negative enscow.

I can rent if I am lucky for 1000-1200 a month.

If I fix the escrow my payment will be 1600 a month. $541 a month of that to escrow the rest to the mortgage.

I bought at the top of the RE spike in florida and did not care because even at $1700 a month it was cheaper than commercial space.

Ughh!! I get so frustrated with all of this. I really want my office there and the City make no provision for it. Even when its on a 4 lane highway. They are trying to fix their screwup 20 years ago at the homeowners expense.

BTW - I did the math wrong before I woe $4,500 on a 150K sale , I bought the house for 190K so I am loosing 40K right off the bat then another 10K in mortgage payments. 50K loss. Ouch.

Jims5543 · 02-21-2007, 05:08 PM

Oops the buyer actually found me by mistake, since the house is listed in the tax roll as a second home for me (no homestead deduction on my taxes) I get these flyers all the time, I have been getting them since the day I bought the house and long before it was for sale.

This was not a result of the MLS and I can ask him to be sure but I think he bases it on the tax records, he looks for houses where the owner is not at the address.

Steve Carlton · 02-21-2007, 10:31 PM

I could be wrong, but I think if the buyer didn't find the house as a result of the listing agent's efforts, you can just let the listing expire before you sell and not have to pay a commission. Obviously, check with the Florida Department of RE (or whatever it's called).

I'd talk to your tax guy. If your PITI is $1,600-1,700/month, all but the principal portion of your payment is deductible, plus depreciation. Your insurance should decrease dramatically as a rental vs a personal residence, too. Your after-tax loss could be trivial if the rent is $1,000-1,200/mo, especially if your value could spike sometime soon.

turbo6bar · 05:11 AM

Cesiro, I would not offer to pay the realtor anything. If the realtor sold your property in 3 days flat, do you think he'd offer to refund part of the commission. Why do you feel obligated to pay him for not closing the deal in the contracted time frame?

I +1 Wayne's opinion.

berettafan · 02-22-2007, 04:46 AM

I understand your angst but to be honest.......screwed up is signing a contract then telling the other party you have no intention of honoring it.

nota · 02-22-2007, 05:19 AM

a realtor is just a used house salesman
and about as honorable as a usedcar salesman
why people bright enuff to avoid dealer/stealers
when buying a car
use a realtor to sell a home
is beyond me

I am surprised the realtor didnot demand the full 6% cut
of the deal he had no part in
is the only thing here out of SOP for them
the buyor must be a realtor too or something

Rot 911 · 02-22-2007, 05:38 AM

Jim both Steve and Wayne are on to something that might help you. Most listing agent contracts bind you both during the time period of the contract and also after the contract has expired IF the buyer was made aware of the property being for sale through any efforts, passive or active, of the listing agent. If your buyer found the property as you stated, through the tax rolls, you should be ok to sell after the contract expires. However, I am not an expert in Florida real estate law and you really will need to read the contract to for language regarding buyers that don't go through the listing agent.

Jims5543 · 02-22-2007, 01:40 PM

The contract expired on the 16th not the 25th as the realtor led me to believe. I just looked it up, I sogned it on the 25th after hesitating but I looked and I inked in the 16th for the termination date.

The buyer talked to the realotr and got him down to 2% or $3000. Even though now I was only 2 days from the termination of the contract. There is no verbage about a grace period in the contract I just checked.

I am an idiot for opening my mouth I should have kept it shut.

I just wrote a letter to his boss asking why they feel the need to collect when they failed to sell, and the sale of this house was a result of my own actions and I did not benefit from them in any way.

Lets see what happens.

turbo6bar · 02-22-2007, 02:28 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Jim Cesiro
I am an idiot for opening my mouth I should have kept it shut.

+1, in the kindest way possible.

Steve Carlton · 02-22-2007, 02:36 PM

I'm still confused. If your contract expired 6 days ago and your buyer wasn't procured as a result of your listing agent's efforts, why pay him? How are you now obligated to pay your agent $3,000? I don't see how opening your mouth about a buyer not procured by the listing agent now makes it a payable transaction. Did your buyer talk to your agent on the 14th? This thread started yesterday. I'm confused.

Dixie · Dixie's Garage

Quote:

Originally posted by Jim Cesiro
I am an idiot for opening my mouth I should have kept it shut.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

+1, in the kindest way possible.

Also in the kindest way possible...

You're an idiot if you're looking for legal advice on the Internet. Either pay the agent, or spend a few bucks and talk to an attorney. (The attorney will cost less now, compared to latter.)

Jims5543 · 05:12 AM

Quote:

Dear Sir,

I listed my property located at left blank Blvd with you for a 6 month term that ended on February 16, 2007. In anticipation of the contract coming due and the house not being sold, I contacted one of those ‘ugly house’ buyers to see if they would be interested in buying the house after the contract was up. I am in a dire circumstance with this house and had to sell it fast, your agent Clark was made well aware of my dire circumstances and my desire to sell fast and cheap.

I even urged him to tell a potential buyer to make any offer and I would probably accept. I do not feel this was expressed to them, it seems we were holding out for a better sales price.

I called Clark up on the 14th and informed him that I was going to sell the house to an ugly house buyer for the amount I owed on the mortgage and I did not have any intention of renewing my contract with him, but, I would urge the new owner to list with him. Clark was quick to inform me I would have to pay him 3% of the sale price.

I was the one that went out and found a buyer, negotiated a sale price and cut the deal. This was in anticipation of the contract coming due and the house still not being sold.

My phone call to Clark was a professional courtesy to him not a green light to screw me over. I gave your firm a chance, pulling my listing from a realtor I was friends with to list with Clark, you could not sell and you have no buyer now. We are out of contract and this house was NOT sold due to any actions from your firm. Therefore your claim to a commission is unfounded.

If you would like to explore this issue further, please direct your correspondence to Left Blank, P.A. (firm name and address below) I will retain his services as pertains to this matter if need be.

fireant911 · 02-23-2007, 04:41 AM

Jim,
There was a recent case on The People's Court that somewhat resembled your situation. The realtor had been attempting to sell some property (approximately 600 acres) for a rather long time. Although the realtor had 'supposedly' come up with a legimate buyer they were unable to establish financing. Several requests for additional time from the prospective buyer to obtain financing was relunctantly granted (six times actually, if I remember correctly). The seller grew tired on this situation and found a buyer herself for the property. The realtor tried claiming that they were owed a commission and took the seller to court. Supposedly, the contract between the seller and realtor was merely a 'verbal contract' and although the realtor collected absolutely nothing in court the 'on-the-street' laywer (is his name Harvey? - the one that interviews the folks outside the studio) felt that even with a sound, written contract that the realtor would have lost the case regardless because of the jerking around that had occurred (in regards to time).

I realize that reality may be different from the cases on People's Court and each state as well as each individual judge may look at these cases in a unique fashion. Six months is excessive if you are looking to sell the property quickly and you are the one who single-handedly did the selling. I would take my chances in court. The commission realtors expect, in my opinion, is ridicuolus. I do not think that your realtor is owed a thing - it is the gamble they take (in regards to promoting and paying for adverts that they take).

I would recommend talking to a lawyer at this stage.