Buyer Agency Protocol

Buyer Agency Protocol

Recently, I heard a question asked from a Buyer about Buyer Agency Protocol. The particular Buyer had been working with a Real Estate Agent for about a month, but without a Buyer Agency Agreement. Eventually, the Buyer found a house on his own and worked directly with the Seller to write the contract. The Agent was not involved.

Afterwards, the Buyer posed the question: "What is Realtor protocol in this type of situation, because I want to be fair?"

In that month, prior to the Buyer going out on his own, the Agent had done copious amounts of work for him. Naturally, the Buyer did not want to take advantage of this Agent.

So, Mister Buyer are you willing to pay that Agent 3% of the purchase price for that deal that you made without him. Not likely. In actuality, it is more likely that you are thinking of paying him a couple hundred dollars, if that.

Let me see if I can determine how this works.

• I have a mortgage. I will call them and ask what is protocol. Can I stop paying my mortgage? Oh, that's right; that has already been answered. Look at all of the Foreclosures and Short Sales.
• I have a credit card that I have been using. I will call and ask if I need to pay the balance. Oh, I can declare bankruptcy and not pay any of it.
• If I go to the emergency room, do I need to pay for the medical service?
• . . . .
• Can I use a Real Estate Agent for nothing?!!

Some Agents are okay with this scenario. "Oh gosh; don't worry about it; just send me referrals."

"Darn right I will send you referrals; you are the cheapest guy in town."

But now I ask, should his question have been reworded. Perhaps to something like "What is Buyer protocol . . . ?"

Should a Buyer pay for the services that he receives, for any service or product, or should he expect that everything should be free? "Let's spread the wealth around", the wealth which will not exist if everyone thinks that they are entitled to everything regardless of what it costs.

That's it for now.