 Avoid
seller's agent on 'must have' house
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 Dear
Real Estate Adviser,
I am interested in buying a home and the sellers are telling me
that I can't get the house without using their agent. Do I have
a choice? I really love the house, although it is not going to be
ready for occupancy until December.
-- Gabriel C.
 Dear
Gabriel,
Just how badly do you want that house?
I ask that because you are obviously getting strong-armed
by the seller and possibly by the seller's agent indirectly. It's
hard to imagine that you will receive equitable treatment under
such a scenario. Hence, you have to ask yourself if you really want
to pursue the biggest capital purchase of your life with virtually
no representation.
That's a very bad idea. Sellers' agents, you see,
are legally obligated to protect the sellers' interests only, and
that includes negotiating in their favor and picking up on any hints
from you about how much -- or little -- you're willing to pay. Generally,
all that agent owes you is basic honesty. One way around this is
to get the seller to consent to a "dual agent" relationship,
where the agent offers limited representation to both sides and,
legally, must cease to be an advocate for either party. Dual agents
can't negotiate in favor of either the buyer or seller, but they
do perform practically all other services that a regular buying
or selling (listing) real estate agent does. But there's not much
incentive for the seller to agree to that, and even if it was agreed
to, a lot of things can go wrong with no direct representation whatsoever
-- be it in the form of your own agent or a real estate attorney.
If you go for this option, make certain you get a written disclosure
spelling out the agent's professional relationship with you.
There are two other things you could try, but as you've
explained, either could kill any chance you have of getting the
house. First, you could engage a buyer's agent to do your bidding
-- approach the listing agent to discuss it or to actually present
an offer. The listing agent, faced by another professional and a
bona fide offer, could drop the demand rather quickly. Or, if you
don't have any qualms about being slightly confrontational yourself,
you could meet with the listing agent and say, "I understand
that if I want to buy this house I can't use my own agent and must
use you. Why is that?" Or you could ask, "Is this a common
practice for your agency to make these kinds of demands?"
Of course, the parties involved here seem intent on
weighting this transaction so the listing agent will get the full
commission and not split it with another broker. There might even
be some unstated promises the listing agent has made to the sellers
to structure it that way. If they are truly dead set on their unreasonable
demand, they will likely deep-six your offer if you bring another
agent to the table.
However, if you can't bear the thought of losing that
house and are content to pay pretty much what the sellers are asking
and to meet their other slanted terms to get it, at least find a
good real estate attorney to back you on the contractual side.
But be advised that an arrangement where a seller's
agent also becomes the buyer's agent in the same transaction is
heavy with potential conflicts of interest. Since the real estate
market in many parts of the country has recently transitioned into
a buyer's market, you will probably fare better in another deal
and will likely be able to settle into a similar, if not better,
residence well before Christmas.
Good luck.
To ask a question of the Real Estate Adviser, go
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page, and select "buying, selling a home" as the topic.
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