Best way to tell an agent you don't want to sell anymore?

[Exy]

Hi all,

Long time lurker, first time poster.

I'm in a bit of a dilemma and not sure what to do or how to go about it.

I have an interstate property listed with an agent (selling to fund another property). Now, my friend wants to purchase it from me privately (if only they said so before I signed with the agent). There's only a few weeks left before the contract with the agent expires and since it has been on the market for a while I told my friend there shouldn't be a problem in selling to him as the prospective buyers have virtually dried up. The agent has just found a buyer in which we said who's offer we'd pretty much accept (contract has been sent to be signed) because it meant settlement would be much quicker than if we had waited for the contract to finish and then sell to my friend. This also meant we'd get the funds sooner, even though we were better off financially via private sale. I mentioned the offer to my friend and told him why it's best for us to accept the offer based on the timing. My friend has now offered to lend me the deposit money so the paperwork for the loan can begin straight away.

OK, my problem/dilemma is how to say to the agent we now no longer want to accept the offer after telling her we would. And, if the buyer was to increase the offer, my friend would increase his as well.

At the end of the day, my friend's offer is the best of the two options by a country mile, instead of getting the loan after settlement in 6 weeks, we can pretty much get it in a week or so plus more in the hand. The only way the other buyer would get us to think twice is if they made a ridiculously higher offer, which I doubt.

Can anybody offer some advice on what to say to the agent, please????

If the above sounds confusing and wishy washy, it probably is because I'm finding it hard explaining this and I'm racking my brains out at the thought of telling the agent we don't want to proceed with the sale and that I've pretty much stuffed her around. {Deep breaths all round}

Thanks,
Exy

 

[superted]

Hi all,

Long time lurker, first time poster.

I'm in a bit of a dilemma and not sure what to do or how to go about it.

I have an interstate property listed with an agent (selling to fund another property). Now, my friend wants to purchase it from me privately (if only they said so before I signed with the agent). There's only a few weeks left before the contract with the agent expires and since it has been on the market for a while I told my friend there shouldn't be a problem in selling to him as the prospective buyers have virtually dried up. The agent has just found a buyer in which we said who's offer we'd pretty much accept (contract has been sent to be signed) because it meant settlement would be much quicker than if we had waited for the contract to finish and then sell to my friend. This also meant we'd get the funds sooner, even though we were better off financially via private sale. I mentioned the offer to my friend and told him why it's best for us to accept the offer based on the timing. My friend has now offered to lend me the deposit money so the paperwork for the loan can begin straight away.

OK, my problem/dilemma is how to say to the agent we now no longer want to accept the offer after telling her we would. And, if the buyer was to increase the offer, my friend would increase his as well.

At the end of the day, my friend's offer is the best of the two options by a country mile, instead of getting the loan after settlement in 6 weeks, we can pretty much get it in a week or so plus more in the hand. The only way the other buyer would get us to think twice is if they made a ridiculously higher offer, which I doubt.

Can anybody offer some advice on what to say to the agent, please????

If the above sounds confusing and wishy washy, it probably is because I'm finding it hard explaining this and I'm racking my brains out at the thought of telling the agent we don't want to proceed with the sale and that I've pretty much stuffed her around. {Deep breaths all round}

Thanks,
Exy

Take it off the market, wait two weeks till end of the contract period would of expired and then sell it to your freind.

Its essentially a business transaction, dont be emotional (i mean that in a nice way), plus if someone is going to get abit upset better to be the agent (at loosing some bucks), then your freind (who thinks you maybe shafted them)

Gee i hope nobody jumps on me again but thats honestly what i would do.

 

[Aceyducey]

Gee i hope nobody jumps on me again but thats honestly what i would do.

Questionably ethically.

For someone who complains about REAs behaving unethically you're not setting a good example yourself.

What's that about glass houses?

Cheers,

Aceyducey

 

[superted]

Questionably ethically.

For someone who complains about REAs behaving unethically you're not setting a good example yourself.

What's that about glass houses?

Cheers,

Aceyducey

Here we go again trying to bait me again.... without getting into ethics and REA's and heading down that road............ all i can say is at least I was HONEST about it and i definately value my friendship higher in the example then the REA's slightly hurt feelings at loosing money.

But staying on topic what would you do acey?

 

[mitch]

lf your friend is a friend,why are they trying to dud you out of money by only matching the other offer ?

Your friend only wants to pay enough to secure the property and not pay you what the property is worth to them.

lt seems to me your friend cares little about you or their intergrity,only looking to spend as little as possible.

Birds of a feather, exy, birds of a feather.

 

[stanley]

I agree with the sound advice you've been given so far, i.e. tell the agent you've decided not to sell and then wait until the authority has expired before selling it privately to your friend.

It's a win-win situation for everyone involved.

Cheers

 

[superted]

lf your friend is a friend,why are they trying to dud you out of money by only matching the other offer ?

Your friend only wants to pay enough to secure the property and not pay you what the property is worth to them.

lt seems to me your friend cares little about you or their intergrity,only looking to spend as little as possible.

Birds of a feather, exy, birds of a feather.

Maybe u could organise a private auction after the contract period has finished and let them battle it out (Joking)

 

[Kristine..]

Well, I've got this thing about what goes around comes around.

If we want to be treated honestly we have to treat others honestly.

I would refer my friend to the Agent.

Cheers

Kristine

 

[mitch]

ld say ,if from what you wrote is the way you handle yourself in business superted , that the word honest and your name wouldnt get spoken too often in the same sentence.

 

[superted]

Ok a different idea to please everyone.

Essentially you will saving the commission paid to the agent by doing what i said, making your freind happy but upsetting the forum.

So do as Kristine says and send your freind to the agent. Hopefully your freind goes to a higher price and out bids the other buyer and along the way the price covers the agents commision as well and you get the original offer price as clear $$.

Maybe try and get terms for a quick settlement so that you get your money quicker.

 

[crest133]

"The agent has just found a buyer in which we said who's offer we'd pretty much accept (contract has been sent to be signed). . . . "
This statement is "pretty much vague ". Does this mean you said yes ? You might be gazumping your agent, to say the least. If you said yes, what's your word worth ?
Suggest you discuss the agreement you signed with the agent because you have a buyer willing to pay more who has not been introduced to the property by the agent. Is the agreement exclusive ? You should work your way through this with the agent under whatif conditions and see what they will accept.
good luck
cheers
crest133

 

[ggumpshots]

It sounds like you dont want to confront the agent.
If the agent wasnt going to get upset it seems you wouldnt have a problem
so dont confront the agent.

Send a written/fax response and put your telephone on voice mail for a week.

Thats not what I would do , but you didnt ask that question,did you.

You havent done anything illegal.

I could take the high moral ground but it seems you already know the issues
Hope that helps.....good luck

 

[Exy]

Thanks for the reply all.

Mitch,
My friend's offer is much greater than the other buyer's offer once commission is taken out. There's no doubt I'm not being dudded by him.

Kristine,
If I refer my friend to the agent then they'll be forced to pay much more and therefore no chance of them purchasing.

Crest133,
We did sign an exclusive agreement and therefore cannot bring in another buyer without having to pay the commission.

Ggumpshots,
You're 100% correct, I'm too chicken to confront the agent, even though it's over the phone. I did think about email/letter/fax then voicemail but I'm sure would have had to talk at some time so that idea's been ditched.


Also, the agent has already admitted to being unethical. She told a buyer who had put in an offer that a second & third buyer had offered more than them when in actual fact there were no second & third buyers. I told the agent not to even bother going for more money and to forget about that buyer. I suppose this gives me the right to just cancel the sale with the agent but I just feel weird/nervous/worried/scared/chicken about doing it, probably because I'll get the guilt treatment and all that about all the hard work put in to get the buyer to make the latest offer. {Even more deep breaths and now the legs are shaking}

Once again, thank you for all your replies. I'm off to finish watching the footy. I only came here at half time for a quick peek and now the game's almost finished (I do know the score though).

Exy

 

[superted]

Thanks for the reply all.

Also, the agent has already admitted to being unethical. She told a buyer who had put in an offer that a second & third buyer had offered more than them when in actual fact there were no second & third buyers.

Exy

Gee i thought i was the only one that was supposedly unethical ;-)


Exy Id love to help you..remember the agent is only human not a grizzly bear

 

[stanley]

Also, the agent has already admitted to being unethical. She told a buyer who had put in an offer that a second & third buyer had offered more than them when in actual fact there were no second & third buyers.

I hate it when they do that

But on the other hand, i guess the agent was working in your best interests in getting the maximum price (and maximum commission).

Cheers

 

[DAAJ]

What do you think the agent would do if he /she where in the exact situation?

I have worked for a brief period in land sales and i can tell you now that what ever car he/she is driving at the moment is (probability) a lot more expensive then yours.

Any do gooders out their i have only one piece of advice when it comes to investment properties "buisness is Buisness".

Dont even bring the word ethical into realestate, as you only have to pick up the paper and see.

Sell to your friend take your well earned profit and do it again. No one else will do it for you.

You can attack me all you want for my comments but in the end i have the fatter bank account.
Dom

 

[Aceyducey]

Here we go again trying to bait me again.... without getting into ethics and REA's and heading down that road............ all i can say is at least I was HONEST about it and i definately value my friendship higher in the example then the REA's slightly hurt feelings at loosing money.

But staying on topic what would you do acey?

Ted, I'm a serious investor. I build ongoing relationships with agents. Trust is a key component in those relationships.

I would refer the friend to the Agent.

When you have a legal contract signed with the Agent, you are behaving unethically and dishonestly if you go around that contract.

If the friend approached me before I signed a contract with the agent, or after the contract terminated, or if I inserted a clause in the contract stating that the Agent only gets paid if they touch the potential buyer in some way - then it's a different story.

Society is based on agreements.

You can only expect others to keep their agreements with you if you uphold them with others.

Breaking trust in an agreement will come back on you one way or another.

And I stand by what I said about your prior posts putting down agents for behaving unethically or dishonestly, but you yourself being prepared to treat them dishonestly and unethically yourself remains true.

This is not baiting, it's about personal integrity.

And if that's not enough to convince you that behaving ethically and honestly is in your own interest - if you go around the contract & the Agent finds out, they can take legal action against you to get their commission, and have a good case to do so.

Cheers,

Aceyducey

 

[BV]

Exy,

You are entitled to change your mind at any time
and pull it off the market if you so wish.

You will have to decide whether to dissapoint your friend
and lose money or do what you are perfectly entitled to.

Good luck.

 

[thefirstbruce]

Ted, I'm a serious investor. I build ongoing relationships with agents. Trust is a key component in those relationships.

Acey, building relationships with REAs lends itself to chronyism, doesn't it? i.e. you are trying to gain an advantage over the rest of the market by having the agent treat you with partiality, while other buyers are given second billing- the property industry's version of insider trading.

I have been annoyed more than once to find out REAs offer properties to favoured clients before releasing them onto the open market. Is this a fair strategy? Indeed, it is quite frustrating to be pigeon holed by REAs by the clothes I wear and my manner as a buyer not worthy of some of the properties on their books.

Further, I wonder what recourse a vendor has if a REA is found not to be marketing their property equally with other similar properties on the REA's books.

 

[stanley]

When you have a legal contract signed with the Agent, you are behaving unethically and dishonestly if you go around that contract.

And I stand by what I said about your prior posts putting down agents for behaving unethically or dishonestly, but you yourself being prepared to treat them dishonestly and unethically yourself remains true... it's about personal integrity.

LOL...

Exy is asking for some advice about how to handle this RE agent.
It's obvious that the best way to handle this situation is to tell the RE agent that the vendor has changed their mind, wait for the authority to expire, and then sell the property to the friend. Everyone wins in this situation (except for the RE agent).

This RE agent is unethical, dishonest and lacks personal integrity. I don't believe she deserves a commission.