Real Estate agent trying to extort money from me

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Heartbreaker

#1
#1
Okay, extort may be a bit extreme, but this guy has had a house of mine on the market for a year and can't sell it due to a lot of reasons. He thinks I should still compensate him if I decide to go to another real estate agency since he was referred to me by my family.

Has anybody ever compensated a real estate agent for his efforts and not his results?
 
R

RuffToy

#2
#2
You are under no obligation to compensate him for his time. Since he hasn't executed a contract for sale and assuming you have no current contract with him or his agency, you owe him NOTHING. Be careful if you did sign an agreement, make sure you're not breaking a contract with him. Otherwise he may be able to go after his share of the commission when you sell the house with some other agent or by yourself.

Be a nice guy, buy him a bottle of wine and thank him for efforts.
 
genius

genius

#4
#4
RuffToy said:
Be a nice guy, buy him a bottle of wine and thank him for efforts.
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Bull . Has nothing to do with being a nice guy - he certainly isn't since he is trying to get money from you that he is not entitled to.

Effort is not the business he is in - it is selling real estate. He didn't do it.
 
R

RuffToy

#5
#5
I try to take the high road whenever I can. A bottle of wine is cheap and the act is honorable. But Heartbreaker should do whatever he feels is the "right" thing. Bottom line, don't let this guy strong arm you.
 
L

Lou Grant

#6
#6
Most r.e. contracts with agents 6 months length, which leaves the seller the opportunity to switch agents if they are not getting results. The fact that he has had the house for a year does not obligate you to compensate him for anything. Understand the nature of the real estate contract: he is to be compensated with a percentage of the sale price for marketing your house.
 
D

Daddycool

#8
#8
Heartbreaker said:
Okay, extort may be a bit extreme, but this guy has had a house of mine on the market for a year and can't sell it due to a lot of reasons. He thinks I should still compensate him if I decide to go to another real estate agency since he was referred to me by my family.

Has anybody ever compensated a real estate agent for his efforts and not his results?
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No!! tell him to go fuck off. You usually sign an exclusive with an Agent for six months, he is well past that mark and couldn't sell you home. You owe him nothing.
 
D

Daddycool

#9
#9
I am curious to know what efforts he did take to sell your home. Did he lower your asking price at all? Did he have open houses? Where did he have your house listed? On how many listing? Did he have his own listing? How many other agents got customers to your home?? An agent only sells about 35% of the houses he/she list.
 
M

magicfingersny

#10
#10
You canalso file a complaint against him with the local board of realtors, the NY state dept of education which issues his license and his broker. I had loked at a house & the seller wouldn't accept my offer. The contract with the agency expired. Another deal I had going fell throgh. I approached this owner, who saidthe listing expired, showedd me the contract and then negotiated directly with me. the original agent rushed me thorugh the house.Well when the deal closed they told me they were comig after me for the commission and refused to take a listing for an apartment I had for rent. Bit their nose to spite their face. Like there isn't a glut of real estate offices, sitting with NO business right now. Good advice ruff. I agree always take the high road if you can.btw what the gent is trying to do is coercion if not extortion,or just good old fashioned guilt
 
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S

SkellyChamp

#11
#11
My clients never sign an exclusive for more than three months maybe four months tops. If the guy is not producing results you want to be able to move on.

Also, if you ever sign a contract with a broker amend the provision which says he is entitled to a commission when he produces a buyer ready willing and able to close. It should be deemed earned only at the passing of title to the new buyer. And if your buyer defaults and you get to keep the deposit never ever let the broker be entitled to any of the deposit. That's to compensate you for your lost money and continued financial obligations to the property. A broker will still get their money when a sale goes through.
 
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howdynnj

#15
#15
A friend had one of his wife's friend list their house, and signed a year contract. She never showed the house, no open houses, and then wanted to renew the contract for a year. In the meantime, the house lost about 100k in value, they dropped the price 120k, and it's still on the market 18 months later!

Never use friends for business!
 
A

aceofclubs26

#18
#18
Heartbreaker said:
this guy has had a house of mine on the market for a year and can't sell it due to a lot of reasons.
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Most of you are assuming the broker is at fault. I'd like to hear the "lot of reasons".

In this market, it may not necessarily be the broker's fault. Putting lipstick on a pig doesn't always make it a winner.

I also think it's a little extreme to report him to the state just because the house didn't sell and he brought up being compensated for his time. If it's a difficult property to sell and he gave it an honest effort, maybe you should try someone else and just politely tell him you want to switch things up a little bit to see if someone else has a different game plan.
 
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