I inherited my fathers property. He was trying to sell before he passed but did not have a realtor, instead relied on word of mouth of his friends. He was approached by a women claiming to represent a development company. It turns out she misrepresented herself and was a realtor, and is apparently now entitled to a commision. I don’t understand how this works. We did not hire this women, why would her paycheck come out of our pockets? If that is how it has to be who decides how much she gets?
Was any contract signed?
No contract was signed. She (her name is Mary) works with them (the buyer). And we have nothing to do with her. She did however initiate the deal by approaching my father first. But there is more to this story: This all happened months ago. Since my father passed away, I hired a realtor named Dee, hoping to find a better offer. There dosn’t seem to be one. Now I am wondering why should Dee get a commision when all she did was bring me the same offer from that was on the table before I met her? And If Mary is entitled to this commision does she now have to split it with Dee? I did sign a contract with Dee but this was well after the original deal was proposed.
I’d have to see your contract to know exactly what you owe or don’t owe. What has Dee done to market the home? Has she paid for any advertising? What does your contract say about FSBO sales? Does it say she gets a commission if you find your own buyer?
There is still a lot of detail that you have not told us and of course we are not reading the contract you signed.
You state that you did sign a contract with a real estate agent. Typically, sellers sign an exclusive listing agreement. This usually states that the listing agent is entitled to a commission on the sale of your property whether she finds the buyer, someone else finds the buyer, or you find the buyer yourself.
If this is the listing agreement you signed, then yes you owe your agent a sales commission.
Since another agent brought you the buyer, the other agent is also entitled to a share of the sales commission. Your listing agreement usually specifies that a cooperating agency will share the commission with the selling agency. If this is the case, then yes, your agent has to share the sales commission with the buyer’s agent.
Does not matter that you are getting an offer from agent that gave the same offer to your father. Your father apparently did not accept it. You are receiving a new offer that is the same as the previous offer.
In summary, if you sell the property during the term of the listing agreement with your agent, you owe your agent a full sales commission. If a second agent participated in the sale, then your agent owes the second agent a share of the commission.
Whatever happened between the agents and your father is history and not a factor in what is happening between you and the concerned agents today.
Just my opinion
If you signed a listing agreement with Dee, then she gets paid the agreed upon commission from the proceeds of the sale. If there is a question as to who found the buyer, that is for Dee’s and Mary’s broker to hash out. If the buyer’s are actively represented by Mary in the transaction, then Dee must split her commission with her.
If you are to pay any of the commission out of pocket, then you haven’t sold the property for enough to have the commission paid from the proceeds. Have you accepted the offer? You can accept it with a contingency that the realtors take less commission so there’s nothing out of pocket for you, or have the buyer pay a portion of it if they are willing.
Dee should get a commission as she exclusively represents you, the Seller. She fiduciary obligation is to represent you and your interests in the transaction and for that, she does deserve a commission. Bringing in an offer is only half of her job.