Roger, I hear what you’re saying. My suggestion was more for the next transactions down the road; not necissarily this current one. This one’s obviously too late.
However, are you saying that even for the next transaction, NJbird_dog can’t say, “Mr. Seller, I’m a licensed real-estate agent, but for this transaction, we won’t factor that in.”? My wife has her real-estate license (I do not), and told me that I have to disclose it for my directly acquired deals, but I usually just tell people that we won’t factor that in, i.e. charge her commission, if I’m doing the work for the deal myself. Obviously, I’m going to utilize her resources for MLS and such, but I won’t charge the seller/buyer her commission (and she agrees), because I will be doing the work to make a profit from the spread instead of the commission.
Yes, Dean, that is exactly what I’m saying. If you are the RE agent, then there is more to it than whether or not you’re going to be getting a commission. As stated, state laws vary, but at the very least, you’ll have to disclose that you are a licensed agent. More probable is that you’ll have to disclose even more (see above), and possibly even represent the seller in the transaction, if no other agent is involved.
Now, if you add in the Realtor Code of Ethics (if you belong), you also have a whole other set of issues and disclosures.
Sorry I didn’t read through every post so sorry if I’ve duplicated someone else’s answer. Keep you license and keep investing. You’re fine. Realtors buy properties all the time and they flip them too. All you have to do is disclose your intentions to the seller. If you are flipping for profit, disclose. If you are not sure what you will do until you negotiate the short sale and receive approval- wait to disclose because you may end up with a retail deal instead. That’s all.
I am concerned also with this whole mess, as I feel that having my license puts a HUGE damper on things, but then on the other side helps with MLS access, listing agreements and such. Please inform me as to what I may get in trouble with the following.
I just listed a property, it became a short sale, my Investment company made an offer on it and I submitted the short sale package to the lender. I was the listing agent, my sister the buyers agent, (as past experience with lenders they tend to pay more commission if there are two agents instead of the one.) There have not been any other offers made on the property and it has been on MLS for about 45 days. What trouble am I setting myself up for? I have in the past used another agent to do the listings for me, but I ended up doing all of the work for her, so I decided if I’m doing it anyways, I may as well list it myself, but I don’t know if that is the wise thing to do. My sister is always listed as the buyers agent when my Company purchases the property. Once I receive the acceptance letter from the bank, it goes back on MLS to try to resell before the closing date. If I need to close first, I do and then turn around and sell it afterwards. Please , Please advise.
Did you disclose to the seller that YOU own the company that made the offer? That you were buying with the intent to make a profit?
Did you disclose to the lender that you were the buyer? That the other agent was related to you? Is your sister part owner of the business as well?
Check state laws and MLS guidelines, but I’d wager that you aren’t supposed to be listing a property that you (or the seller) doesn’t yet own. Usually against MLS board rules.