M Any advice or perspective would be greatly appreciated.
M Thanks very much for any help,

I don't see why you are so shy to tell the agent what you feel is fair
amount. The agreement was oral; there's nothing in writing; he feels it
should be 50% of the normal commission; you feel differently. Why not to sit
down and settle on some middle ground. His position is no better than yours,
as far as there was no written agreement.

I'm also surprised that you make that arrangement at all. In Illinois the
buyer usually does not pay the agent anything, it's the seller who does
(through his agent, sho shares the commission). When I was buying a property
one year ago, I worked with several agents, each showed me several
properties, but eventually I bought just one, and only one agent got his
commission - from the seller; not a penny from me. It's their normal way of
work, and they are prepared for the fact that not every perspective buyer
becomes a real one. I'm sure that if tomorrow I want to buy another
property, they all will be happy to work with me again. With this in mind,
the arrangement that you pay him even if you indeed buy the property he
found, looks unfair (most likely, he would get the money from the seller as
well); but the arrangement to pay him for the property he did not even find,
looks like a complete nonsense.


regards