JD,

Curious about your statement regarding procuring cause. In the days before
buyers agents, the procuring cause determined which of several brokers claiming
a seller's commission was due the commission. "Who talked to the buyer first?"
Who showed the property first?" Sometimes it took courts to figure out the
procuring cause in large commission disputes.

When buyers agents enter the picture, is it not true that the buyer agent
writes the offer, includes themselves as the selling agent with provision for
their commission to be paid by the listing broker or seller at time of closing,
presents the contract offer to the listing agent, and when the sale closes,
there is no argument that there is a listing share and a selling share. It
would seem to be the buyer's right to introduce a buyer's agent at any time in
the process because otherwise, the buyer has no representation. And if a
Realtor writes the offer as buyer agent, even after not being there at all for
the showing, it seems fair to assume they will get the seller's share of the
commission. If the listing agent insists on the full commission because the
buyer did not have a buyer agent at first seeing the property, what does the
Association of Realtors say about that when the agents are both Realtors and
the other wrote the offer?

Thanks for any clarification you might offer on that.



JD wrote:

"Dan" wrote in message
...
I am in the process of seeking a (new) buyer's agent/broker. I would
like to pick a better match for me this time, so this will require a
little more time to dedicate to researching, interviewing, etc, during
business hours than I can dedicate right now. It might be a week or
three before I can do all this.

In the meantime, in non-business hours, I've been researching possible
homes, and have identified a few I would like to look at inside.

My question is: if I contact the seller or seller's agent directly to
arrange a viewing, am I going to have difficulty with the sellers
wanting to avoid paying my agent's commision later on? I am in Atlanta,
GA, in case there are local customs at play. Is this just a horrible
idea for some other reason I'm not seeing?

It's very frustrating sitting on my hands while my ability to spend time
finding an agent is on hold.

First, if the home is listed, you do not contact the seller directly.

If you have the listing agent show you a home and do not tell them
beforehand that you have an agent, they then become the procuring cause of
sale should you buy the house.

Selecting an agent to work with is not rocket science. Get some referrals,
visit a few offices, make some calls. Pick one and move on or just go ahead
and work with listing agents. Whatever you do, stop playing games. If you
don't have time to find an agent you don't have time to look at houses.