patrick.net

While this is not legal advice, I would take a dump on the listing agent's face AF-style and threaten to sue them if they ever call you unsolicited again.

Real Estate Agents are not known for their keen understanding of laws. The only law they usually pay attention to is the law of the jungle.

Suppose instead that the listing agent called you up and said the following:

"I have an exclusive 6-month (or whatever) contract to sell property XXX for Y% commission, and by contract the seller owes me that commission no matter who enters into an agreement to buy the house within the contract period".

Then it is likely that the statement of the agent would be essentially correct.

woppa says

I then received a call the next day saying "I'm the listing agent, the house is on the MLS, you're not allowed to call the owners directly" is this true?

I wouldn't do business with someone who lies like this. It would be one thing to say, "I'm the listing agent. Please refer all inquiries to me.". It's quite another to say that you are not allowed to call the owner.

This lack of honesty is a red flag. The fact that the realtor is telling you who's boss and what you are allowed to do, is another giant red flag.

The house owner has signed an agreement that says if he sells the house it will go thru the realtor. So there's no benefit to calling the owner directly, you're already paying a premium (the commission) over the original sales price in order to buy the house.

yes, listing agreements require the seller to give a cut of the sales price even for some number of months after the house is no longer listed with the agent.

So if the house doesn't sell you can wait that time and then contact the owner again.

I sent an FB message to a homeowner just to let him know I made an offer on the house. I only did this after my agent told me the sales agent didn't want to show my offer to his client because it was below what he knew the bank would accept. Now that is illegal.

I got a counter, and my counter back was not accepted. Who knows if my contacting the owner got my offer in front of him or not, but I'll do it again. This way, I'll never have to wonder if the client even sees my offer.

APOCALYPSEFUCKisShostikovitch says

It will let the REALTOR know you won't go for any foolishness. If you have to be anywhere the REALTOR may be lurking, have a Tazer in each hand, live and charged and feel Free to fire at will to make sure the REALTOR's criminality is kept in check.

What if the Realtor is your mother-in-law?

Let me see. Spend 3 minutes writing a quick note on FB or spend months of my life suing someone. My agent and the seller's agent worked for the same RE company. My agent told me flat out that his co-worker would not show my offer to the seller. I told him that is illegal. He changed his tune. I FBed the owner. I did get a counter.

why not write your offer in feces on the front lawn and than set it on fire?

That's one way to make sure they get the message,,,

errc says

why not write your offer in feces on the front lawn and than set it on fire?

That's one way to make sure they get the message,,,

Whenever I walk my dog downtown, he stops in front of specific restaurants to do his business. I always clean it up, but I figure that is his signal for me to AVOID.

Thx for the help, justme. That's what I was assuming but I couldn't believe my ears when I was told It was against the law to call someone. Silly me, forgot I was dealing with a realtor.

This Realtor(tm) sounds like a case for Su Wan. She'll know what to do.

woppa says

I then received a call the next day saying "I'm the listing agent, the house is on the MLS, you're not allowed to call the owners directly" is this true?

Not true. A potential buyer can always call the owner directly. However, another realtor might not be allowed to call the owner directly. Realtors do not have real fiduciary duties like lawyers or certain other professionals, but a lawyer is not allowed to call an opposing party directly if that party is represented, unless they've given consent to that. However, the lawyer's client can always call the opposing party.