I just spoke with a first time home buyer that was eager to view homes with me today. She had contacted me via the Internet and she request that I show her several homes ASAP. She needed to be out of her current home by April 1st and she wanted to close on a home by then. She is pre-approved for a loan and is ready to go! I thought to myself...I am going to sell a house this weekend!
Then I asked her...if she had viewed any other homes yet...she responded no...we continued our conversation. Later in the conversation I found that she did have an agent. She was recommended to him by a friend. She told him she wanted and need to make a purchase immediately and that she wanted to look this weekend. Her agent told her she had to wait!
He told her that he needed to go get the key to the houses. He did not have a lockbox key! That agent also had her sign a buyer broker agreement for 6 months! This guy probably wasn't even a member of his local board of Realtors. What nerve of an agent to lock someone into a buyer broker agreement and not even have the tools to represent them professionally.
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Fullerton Real Estate Agent. 19 Years of Experience in OC. Representing Sellers and Buyers. Property Managment Services. Pre-Foreclosure Counseling, Negotiating Short Sale Payoffs,Bank Repo Sales
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Be glad you found out before you spent a lot of time with her. This is business nerve has nothing to do with it. She signed it and apparently understood enough out what she signed to tell you about it.
Fiduciary responsibility is a term that not all Realtors are familiar with......it is sad.....
So the million dollar question where did you leave it (her). Is she planing on remunerating the Buyer Broker agreement.. clearly he has not shown her a thing so there is no chance of her owing the other agent a commissions.
Clearly you are needed by the buyer
This is a deeper problem that it appears, because this reflects badly on the entire real estate community.
I may have suggested that the buyer contact the agent's broker and explain the situation?
Get it in writing to cancel that buyer broker agreement for those reasons. Basically, make sure that other agent has no recourse when you get into contract.
Once you sign a buyer's agency agreement, is there no way to get out of it?
~Renae
Any and All contracts can be terminated sometime that termination carries a price but I would not work with this agent and as a broker if a "client" asked to terminate I would try and see how I could help however I would not HOG TIE someone to an agent.
Poor lady. She just was hoping to get into a place by the time she needed to and ended up probably getting herself into a worse situation. Agents are here (or should be) to help, not put their clients in a worse situation.
Renae, the buyer has to put in writing that she wants to cancel her buyers agency agreement. She should double check and see if he locked her into a 30 day cancellation. I'd definitely call the Broker and voice my opinion if I were this buyer.
I'd agree with many of the agents above...simply have the Buyer request a signed cancellation and/or contact the "agent's" broker requesting the same.
Good Luck!
I'd like to know where you left it with her as well. Although I don't know how your Buyer agency agreements read, seems to me there's got to be language for termination somehow/someway. Good luck
Can't you just do a cancellation mutual release if both parties agree. I would think the agent who has the buyer agency agreement is not going to let this go. Sounds like an interesting situation that I would just walk away from unless you can get a cancellation mutual release.
Tina, I would think she could go to the broker and ask for a cancellation on her contract. There should be a clause in the contracts for agents to reveal whether they are members of their local MLS. And whether they have keys for the homes.
Wow. I also think that she should look into canceling the contract with the other agent. Did this buyer get all the right forms from this agent (agency disclosures, etc.)? I hope that there is a way that she can get proper representation. Good luck.
I know some "buyers" do stretch the truth at times BUT it isn't hard to believe that there are agents out there not providing the best service to their clients. These agents never cease to amaze me, this last month I have seen;
I contacted an agent to get some additional information on one of her listings. After I did not hear from her for 2-3 days, I left another message. I still have not heard from her ... this was almost a month ago now.
I tried to schedule a showing ... the appointment had to be confirmed. I made the appointment 2 days in advance. I called in 2 times and it hadn't been confirmed yet. So the day before the showing in the AM, I decided to call the listing agent to find out if he knew anything about it. No return call.
It's awful how some clients are treated. I'd get something in writing before venturing out.
I know in Idaho a buyers representation agreement can be cancelled!!! Make sure it is done before you show her to many houses. Sounds like the other agent is incompetent. Of course some buyers are not always upfront either.
Fiduciary responsibilty is a term most real estate professionals abandon and take very lightly. You have a client who has been preapprove for a loan but you are not ready to take them to go show a home?Wow! That is crazy. This is another reason why the public is losing trust in us. Great post.
Tough call for you. I feel bad for the poor lady . April 1? Oh well at least you found out before you hit the road with her...
Not much fun to be tied up by a bad realtor. Have hope, a slow market drives many of the lazy ones away! It is a good thing that you found out early on, your behavior in this manner could lead to referrals from this buyer who feels not represented well.
Not using a Buyer Agency Agreement is like not having a Seller sign a Listing Agreement. Why would you work for free?
Christina