I recently put a down payment on a townhome that my husband and I discovered on one of our search for a smaller house outings. After months of looking at dozens of places… we finally found exactly what we were looking for.Unfortunately my excitement was short lived.Here’s why……..
In the Fall 2007,I worked with a realtor who had handled a sale for us that fell through. We signed a Buyer’s Agent Agreement to work with her for six months.After the six month contract expired, I stayed in touch with her… even writing a consumer column for her business website. I kept her up to date with my adventures searching for a townhome. Several weeks before I found my dream home I called her about a small condo I was interested in purchasing for my son to live in. She drew up papers, we made an offer which was not accepted.
And that’s when the trouble began. I called to tell her (and all my friends) about finding the perfect townhome. Minutes later she called back to inform me that I owed her a buyer’s agent commission on the transaction. I was dumbfounded…Why would I owe her a commission on a sale that she had absolutely nothing to do with? My husband and I went out every Sunday afternoon to view the new construction developments…signed our names in the guests and did all the legwork ourselves. This young woman knew about that for months and never said a word about a commission being owed to her if we purchased a new construction being sold by a developer.Nor did she ever call me about anything being built. I did all my own research.
Now here’s the catch…The day I submitted the offer on the small condo, I had signed a paper which I thought had to do with that particular offer BUT actually I was signing a Buyer’s Agreement to work with her for another 6 month period. It was never explained to me and I did not question her…I just signed all the paperwork.
So bottom line…This Realtor will be receiving a big fat commission for doing absolutely nothing!
I learned a very valuable lesson that day. DO NOT PUT YOUR SIGNATURE ON ANY DOCUMENT UNTIL YOU READ IT THOROUGHLY.
DON’T BE AFRAID TO ASK QUESTIONS.
I also learned that when it comes to money…people can get very greedy.
I feel like this article should be called “How To Make A Bad Reputation For Yourself As A Realtor In A Small Town”
You’re very polite to tell that story and never mention a name or real estate firm. The message is more important “Read read read before you sign.”
Great advice especially now when times are down and all deals seem too good to be true.