I have a question about getting out of the listing agreement. I have an individual that has had his land listed with an agent for 4 months he has told me he still has 5 months left on the agreement. The agent has not been working very hard for him and he would like to get out of the agreement because of the poor service. What is the best way for him to go about this? The thing is this guy is motivated to sell and has told his agent this and they still have not even brought him an offer. He knows there have been inquiries on the land. I have approached the agent and offered a creative deal and the agent presented it to him and advised him that it was a very poor deal and he should not take it. That is when he called me and asked me about my offer. My offer stated he was to be given my my card with my name and number.
He has 15 acres of recreation land with large pole barn, electricity, and water with paved road access. FMV is 99k. I offered him a seasoned mortgage with 6.7% interest and 5K cash. The seasoned mortgage has a face value of 100k I have it locked in at $71,800. I have a buyer that has offered me $91,300 after I do a select cut on the timber, which will net me about another 7K. This buyer is one that has talked to the agent before and could not get them to show him the land, the agent was always busy at the times the buyer could make it.
Any thoughts would be appreciated
The terms and conditions under which the agreement can be terminated should be spelled out clearly in the agreement itself.
As for the agent not getting a commission in the event that you buy the land, “good luck” with that. You presented your offer to the agent, so I’m pretty sure that he has his hooks in you now. If you make a deal, he’s going to get paid.
Do not consider this to be legal advice as I am not a lawyer in your state. In my experience a seller can cancel a listing agreement (a contract) thusly, send the listing broker a letter stating that the performance is below standard and that the contract is being canceled. Tell the broker to remove all signs from the property and cease advertising the property at once.
The broker has the right to sue under the terms of the listing agreement but the question is, will he? Most listing agreements have a “saving clause” in them where the broker has the right to a commission if any client he has brought forward buys the property within a certain number of days after the termination of the listing agreement.
In my state, California, the broker has a duty to send a list of all potential buyers that he has introduced to the seller within a certain number of days. If the broker doesn’t send this list he loses the right to claim that the buyer was his client.
The seller should read the listing agreement carefully to see what rights he and the broker have.
If there really is non-performance on the part of the brokerage, a court will generally rule for the seller in such a case.
If there is enough money involved you may want to check with a lawyer experienced with real estate law.
Many times if you complain to the broker about an agent in their firm they will re-assign the listing to another agent or take it themselves. You can express your concern over their agency having anything to do with the listing and ask them to sign a document stating they are relieving themselves of all commissions and claims on the property or let another agent work it.
Thanks for all the help everyone. I did the deal and closed today. I had the seller come to my title company and we closed with out the agent then sold it at a double closing to my buyer. We went to the broker after we were all done with the transaction and registered a complaint about he agent, and the broker just asked for enough to cover the expenses of the advertising they had done and let it go at that. It turned out to be a very good deal for every one but the agent!