"SkyBlue" wrote
JD wrote:
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,

IMO, a listing agent (a.k.a. seller's agent) does not deserve the whole
commission just because he or she spent maybe at most an hour or two with
the buyer showing him/er around the house. Nor from my experience with two
home purchases (extensively researched) and one home sale would any selling
agent expect what you propose.

Georgia's laws, like many states now, do have provisions for buyer's agents.
E.g. see web site http://www.realpagessites.com/buyers...ion/page2.html
.. Chances are, Georgia law also has provisions for "dual agency." This
sounds like something Dan might have to deal with, although I advise against
it, as it's easily avoided. (Comments, anyone, on dual agency?) Dual agency
occurs if the same real estate company that lists the property also
represents a potential buyer. It's allowed, and when a buyer signs a
contract for "dual agency," typically he or she will have explained to him
that the company will do everything possible to get him/er (the buyer) the
best price possible. (Meanwhile, some other agent for the same company has
already signed a contract with the seller saying the same thing.) But the
conflicts of interest (both agents since they work for the same company want
to make the company as much money as possible) are present, which sucks IMO.

I see little advantage in dual agency, and many web sites strongly
discourage using it. The only possible advantage is getting some wiggle room
on the negotiating price: Maybe the buyer and seller actually do use dual
agency and also the exact same agent. Perhaps the agent will agree to a
commission of just 4% since if the buyer goes out and gets a buyer's agent,
the first agent's commission will be less, at 3%, typically, for the areas
where I have lived. But this is a lot of finagling. A buyer has enough to
deal with just negotiating all the other minutiae of an offer. Plus, the
buyer just can't be as certain a dual agent will work hard for him/er to get
the best price.

As for shopping around for a buyer's agent:
In one instance, I called a company cold, after studying one of those "homes
for sales" free pamphlets one may pick up at grocery stores and drug stores.
I said I was interested in such-and-such neighborhood (found with
www.realtor.com), wasn't quite ready to commit, but would certainly like to
give someone there a chance to show me around some homes and the
neighborhood and possibly make a deal. The person staffing the phones showed
me around and was fantastic. Unfortunately, I re-located far from her area.
I liked her so much that I asked her if she'd like to refer me to a company
in my new location, explicitly stating I'd only be interested if she got a
cut of any commission that resulted. She set me up with another company and
assured me she would get a "finder's fee" for sending me there.

A "relocation specialist" with the real estate company she connected me with
emailed me, as I'd requested. The RS assigned me to a buyer's agent. I
looked at maybe five houses over a total of 75 minutes with the guy. The guy
was not knowledgeable (e.g. I asked about homeowner's association fees and
he said there were none, which turned out to be wrong), was doing so much
talking I couldn't get in my concerns about my home purchase, and seemed
unprofessional -- judgmental of other agents and homes, etc. Plus, the
relocation specialist who sent me to him emailed me at the outset that I'd
"be happier if I could increase how much I could spend." I'd done a lot of
research at www.realtor.com and other web sites on the neighborhood I was
most interested in, and indeed, this person didn't know what she was talking
about. (I ended up buying a home with which I am quite pleased very much in
my original price range.) I don't know for sure but I suspect she was just
trying to get more money out of me from the get-go. Or she was just being
presumptuous about the precise neighborhood where I wanted to live. So
because of everything, I stopped contact with this company. I thought of
emailing to explain, but I am not sure this is necessary, and I don't want
to hurt the guy who showed me around. (He isn't getting any commission from
me, so I figure that's enough of a message.) They haven't emailed me. If
they do, I'll explain I thought the guy the company sent me to was nice
enough but I couldn't quite connect with him... Or something more tactful.
Dunno.

I began shopping around for another buyer's agent, figuring I'd drop in on
some open houses (where I was interested in the neighborhood but not the
particular house), ask around, etc. and not just show up at anyone office so
I could be sort of pushed around with sub-quality (or at least quality not
to my liking) the way I had been. I came across a property manager (who was
also a real estate agent) of a condominium complex in which I was interested
but quickly learned I was ineligible (no pets allowed) for buying there. But
the property manager/real estate agent was so forthcoming with answers to
basic questions I had about the area (from termites to water fees to why the
neighborhood had been built) and so unassuming that after looking in person
at some homes I found at www.realtor.com, I called her and said how about
getting me some price history (or some other history; can't remember) and
getting me inside these homes? We met again, she had everything I'd asked
for in hand, went over it all carefully with me, then reviewed and asked me
to sign a 30-day buyer's agent contract. I couldn't blame her at this point,
of course, and anyway I was pleased with what I'd seen and happily signed.
We visited houses that same day and I continued to be impressed by her
approach. She has her own business (so is not with any of the big "shark"
firms; they seem like sharks to me) and clearly had a good reputation with
the condo. community she managed. (I saw residents come in or phone and
watched her work with them.) We visited maybe ten homes over the next ten
days, all of which I'd chosen, though I told her to chime in anytime with
other suggestions, with me doing a lot of research but she also providing me
all the history available from the MLS system (e.g. past sales prices of
particular homes; averages for homes in the area where I was buying for the
last year; etc.), making calls to seller's agents for visiting appointments
and disclosures, etc. I closed on a home within three weeks of signing my
buyer's agent contract.

I think I lucked out in finding this person. I suggest stopping into open
houses, as a first step, in the neighborhood in which you're interested. If
there aren't many or this is too convenient, call up a company out of the
blue (or maybe look in the yellow pages for independents?), say you're
"**shopping around for a buyer's agent**. Is there anyone there who would
like to give it a shot with you for at most two hours?" Be polite and
explain you need someone with whom you can "click"; buying a home is a big
step for you and you want to feel comfortable. If they're serious, they'll
have a buyer's agent for you.

It's their job to do all within reason to make you feel comfortable, or else
they're not earning their commission. And you want to feel comfortable with
your home purchase, right?

Good luck. An update on how you did in finding a buyer's agent would be
welcome and I'm sure edifying to the group. :-)

snip

"Dan" wrote
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.