Adventures in Househunting – Loyalty to your Realtor

Well, here’ s a new one for me (and I apologize if it seems a bit of a vent–I have a lot of realtor friends).

As I’ve mentioned before, my husband and I have been using local search engines to look for a home (AJC.com, Craigslist.com, etc). Well, yesterday we came across a house that is in the area we want and in our price point. There weren’t a lot of photos, so we just emailed the contact directly to see if there were more photos, before we even mentioned it to our agent, Bruce.

A few emails were exchanged between Kevin and the homeowner, and we decided to go check the house out this weekend. I told Kevin to make sure to mention we have an agent, and I forwarded the information on to Bruce. Bruce then contacts the homeowner, to put it out there that he was our buyer’s agent, and to make sure they are paying a commission. As you know, Bruce has been driving us around, doing research and calling and emailing with me on a daily basis. He will also handle the negotiation of the contract, as well as help me with the house inspection.

The homeowner is not willing to pay a 3% commission, but is willing to pay a 1.5% commission. After she sent that email, she then emailed my husband asking if we signed an agreement with our buyer’s agent. She wants us to cut out our agent, and work directly with her. I think it is very shady of her to behave this way, and honestly makes me not as willing to want to deal with her. An agent only gets paid when a home sales, and a lot of work goes into that happening. Also, our agent is there to protect us from getting taken advantage of.

Please, if you decide to use an agent, be faithful to that person. A lot of time and energy goes into helping you find your dream home, and to cut the agent out would be unfair. Most agents have you sign a contract, but if you agree to use them and have them working for you, please be loyal.

UPDATE: Since I wrote this, the homeowner has said they are willing to work with our realtor. I am glad for that, and look forward to seeing their home.

If you have a question about buying your first home or a topic you would like me to discuss, please email me at advetnuresinhomebuying@mriwebsites.com