Found a Buyer for My Property but Have Signed Selling Agency Agreement

LEvoQuattro on 12/06/2023 - 16:29

G'day all,

So I have a property in WA on the market, and it has been for about 3weeks with no offers. I am going through an agency and have signed the "Selling agency agreement" form which I agree that no other agency is able to sell my property during the period (ends Oct 2023).

Someone I know has contacted me directly saying they are interested in purchasing the property but they have not spoken to the agent, realising that possibly I can avoid paying the agent fees.

The "Selling Agency Agreement" form has a section 6, which states:
SELLER INTRODUCES BUYER
Despite anything else to the contrary the Seller and Agent agree that if, during the Exclusive Period, the Seller introduces the ultimate
Buyer of the Property themselves, the Seller WILL/WILL NOT be liable to pay the Selling Fee to the Agent.

This part was never filled out/signed. I have spoken to a settlement agent and they have said it's therefore up for negotiation.

I don't want to burn bridges completely, but what's a respectful way of approaching this scenario?

Is it fair to ask for a reduction in seller fee?
Should I just suck it up and pay the full commission because he's done about 4 open houses?
If I ask for a reduction in seller fee and I am told NO, then what?

Note to self and anyone selling, always fill out section 6 to avoid this awkward situation!

Home & Garden

Comments

  • fredz0r on 12/06/2023 - 16:45
    +6

    What did whirpool say?

    • payless69 on 12/06/2023 - 22:21
      +1

      Member Since
      6 hours 13 min ago

  • jjjaar on 12/06/2023 - 16:51
    +7

    I don't want to burn bridges completely

    What are the chances you’ll need the same agency in the near future?

  • LVlahov on 12/06/2023 - 16:53
    +1

    An additional piece of info may help - do you think the buyer accessed or made use of any advertisements or home opens arranged by the agent?
    As in, despite contacting you directly, did they happen to have looked at a listing on realestate.com.au that the seller placed up?

    My thoughts would be if they made zero use of such things, a 50% reduction may be in order (as the agent still has gone to trouble on your behalf), but otherwise the full payment should be made, as their efforts did help arrange the sale at least in part.

    Normally and potentially legally I would say you may be committed to paying the whole amount without an agreement that says otherwise. I would double check if any of the items you did sign indicate that you are still liable to cover costs where they are deprived of a sale through no fault of their own.

    • EvoQuattro on 12/06/2023 - 17:08
      +1

      Thanks for your input - I do agree with you in the case of where the potential buyer was made aware of the listing (albeit advertisements which I paid for!)

  • Leanne59 on 12/06/2023 - 17:00

    I would be asking for a 50% reduction in the agents commission for finding your own buyer. If they have a problem with that I would ask the prospective buyer if they were willing to wait until after the seller agreement ceased in October to purchase the property.

    • EvoQuattro on 12/06/2023 - 17:10
      +1

      I did think of that, but paying interest on the loan for an additional 4 months pretty much cancels out a 50% reduction in fee.

  • websterp on 12/06/2023 - 17:13
    +2

    Ask your buyer to wait till Oct and you can always negotiate and agree on the sales price and other terms with them in the meantime. In the grand scheme of things it is not that long.

  • Ozbar Gain on 12/06/2023 - 17:49
    +1

    You could phone the info line of the Real Estate Institute of WA and they might be able to advise.
    But I think because the agent advertised the property online and you don't know if the buyer learned of the property from said advertisements, a good compromise would be 50% commission to the agent

    • EvoQuattro on 12/06/2023 - 17:52

      I 100% agree that the agent should get something - Just trying to justify a reason aside for "Sorry, this guy called me instead of you, therefore I want 50% discount". Thanks, I didn't think about giving REIWA info a call.

      • happydude on 12/06/2023 - 19:04
        +1

        REIWA aren't there to advise you. They are funded by and represent the agents and property managers.

        Don't expect them to say anything that doesn't result in you paying the agent.

        • EvoQuattro on 12/06/2023 - 19:07

          Good point, would be interesting to hear what they say though and their reasoning for why an agent deserves 5 digit $ for 5hours of work. I guess that's just how it is.

  • djsweet on 12/06/2023 - 18:02
    +1

    Are you an agency? No. You paid for the advertising, you found the buyer. You have not signed anything saying that you will pay agency fees if you find your own buyer. So I would say you have no obligation to pay the agency anything.

  • Drakesy on 12/06/2023 - 18:05

    You might be opening a can of worms. (And i hate real estate agents as much as the next guy.)

    Bit of a dog act for the buyer to come direct to you. The legal fees might be more than what you're about to save.

    IMHO the agency has acted on your behalf and the sale was, in some regards, as a result of efforts from the agency.

  • amzinguserman on 12/06/2023 - 18:11
    +1

    I hate real estate agents , I cant wait till they are replaced by a phone App.

    But they do serve a purpose , like others have said, negotiate with the agents to ask for a discount for you to find your own buyer.

    • happydude on 12/06/2023 - 19:12

      The media companies that own Realestate and Domain won't let that happen.

      Purplebricks was as close as we were going to get and it failed.

  • Ocker on 12/06/2023 - 19:06
    +2

    Bit late, but why on earth did you sign a 4-6 month exclusive agreement with a land rat? That really was short sighted IMHO

    • EvoQuattro on 12/06/2023 - 19:08

      Yeah, I have no idea.

  • JIMB0 on 12/06/2023 - 21:12

    Have they offered a firm price or are they trying to get it cheaper by saving on agent fees?

    • EvoQuattro on 12/06/2023 - 21:48
      +1

      We haven't really spoken about price - They know what price i'm looking for though. I guess theres more room for negotiation if there's no seller fee.

      • BillyStm on 13/06/2023 - 06:23

        I'd be getting this all squared away in terms of what they're offering so you don't cancel the arrangement with the Agent and then have them potentially rescind their interest

  • Almost Banned on 12/06/2023 - 23:04

    You owe the agent precisely nothing.
    Frankly they are massively overpaid at the moment anyway. How hard is it to organise a photographer and put an ad on the internet, then maybe have a home open?
    Its money for nothing.
    And why they think the deserve payment based on a percentage is entirely beyond me.
    They were hired to sell the property. They did not do that. They didn't complete the section that deals with the issue and they are supposed to be the experts.
    I'd give them zero.

  • MeesusEff on 13/06/2023 - 03:53

    I've actually had a really similar scenario. My mums friend is an agent but we decided to go for one local to our area. During the exclusive period, she found a buyer and was kinda wanting us to break our contract with our agent. We talked to our agent about it as he's pretty busy anyway and he agreed to share the commission with her.

    So talk to your agent and ask if he'll reduce the fees as most of them also look for a quicker turnaround as it makes their stats look good

  • Sinnerator on 13/06/2023 - 08:48
    +1

    Finally, you are in a position to stuff the re agents around. Do as much damage as you can WITHOUT making yourself liable.

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