# Agent left blank commission on Buyers Agreement



## skyress (Feb 7, 2012)

Hello: I am not happy with the R Estate Agent. Basically i have done all the work towards the purchase of this property.Including finding the private seller/property/price, looking at unit by myself,etc. I dont this this Agent has worked for his commission. I signed Buyers Rep Agreement and just now realized it was for 6 months. But also noticed that the area for commission to be paid was left blank. Will this means contract could be void? or I could pay him a "Loonie" ?
thanks in advance


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## tombiosis (Dec 18, 2010)

the seller pays the commission, not the buyer.


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## Homerhomer (Oct 18, 2010)

tombiosis said:


> the seller pays the commission, not the buyer.


Yes, but if the price was negotiated based on the fact that there is no buyer agent commission than there is a problem.

Basically you need to wait until buyers agreement expires, unless your RE agent agrees to void it.


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## Saniokca (Sep 5, 2009)

The BRAs seem like a ripoff


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## jcgd (Oct 30, 2011)

I can't see why anyone would sign a BRA. I tried to find out how it benefited us and I can't find anything. Why did you sign it, besides the realtor pushing it on you?


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## Homerhomer (Oct 18, 2010)

jcgd said:


> I can't see why anyone would sign a BRA. I tried to find out how it benefited us and I can't find anything. Why did you sign it, besides the realtor pushing it on you?


According to a commercial I have seen on tv it's very good for you, so it must be right ;-)


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## Saniokca (Sep 5, 2009)

for what it's worth:

http://www.greaterfool.ca/2011/11/13/the-trouble-with-bras/


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## mrcheap (Apr 4, 2009)

Bob Aaron has a column on this:

http://www.aaron.ca/columns/2008-04-19.htm

There was another column of his I remember reading (but can't find), where he basically says don't sign these.


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## Berubeland (Sep 6, 2009)

Homerhomer said:


> According to a commercial I have seen on tv it's very good for you, so it must be right ;-)


Just to piss off TRM I quoted you. 

All I have to say is lmao


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## Dmoney (Apr 28, 2011)

Little bit of devil's advocate here...

I leased a place through an agent and had to sign the equivalent of a buyer's agreement which was pretty straightforward... My agent gets half of one month's rent.

If he shows me 10 places and I don't take any but find one on my own, I legally owe him half of one month's rent. I'm okay with that. Makes sense to me, he put in the work. If I take one of the 10, the seller's (landlord's) agent foots the bill. 

I'm happy with that deal. Way I see it is if the agent does all the legwork, you shouldn't be able to just walk away and back out of the deal.



One step up, if I'm looking to buy, what's the downside of signing this agreement? As far as I understand it, I'm agreeing to use a particular agent and this particular agent only. 

The agreement stipulates a particular length of time over which the agent represents me (call it 3 mos), then another period (call it another 3 mos) over which if I buy something the agent showed me I owe the commission.

If I'm okay with the terms (ie I'm comfortable with my agent, I'm not planning on switching agents, I won't buy without my agent at any point I'm under the agreement) is there a big downside to signing this agreement?

Do the benefits of having an agent (MLS access, expertise in local real estate) outweigh the costs (locked in with this agent, 2.5% commission would in theory raise the price by 2.5%).

I'm looking at it from the point of view of a buyer, so the commission in paid by the seller. I know that the existence of this commission in theory raises the end price, but would the selling agent not just pocket the 5% commission if a buyer without an agent comes?

Is it beneficial to have an agent as a buyer if you're not paying the commission directly?

Kind of rambled there, but I'm considering buying a place in the not overly distant future, and am wondering how big the downside to a BRA is?


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## Berubeland (Sep 6, 2009)

You know the downside to the BRA is the length of time it runs for. Do you really want to be married to that agent for 6 months? 

Then there are non performance issues. 

There was a case a while back where the agent went on vacation for 2 months during the bra and the guy found another agent and bought a place. He had to pay her. 

Another thing is people tend to think of agents as their friends. Not sure why that is exactly...so they have the weird idea that their "friend" would let them off the hook, when their agent is not really their friend it's a business relationship as verified by the signing of the BRA.


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## Dmoney (Apr 28, 2011)

So would a short term BRA have as substantial a downside? Say 2 months and roll the agreement over each time it ends if the buyer is still satisfied with the agent?


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## kcowan (Jul 1, 2010)

The problem arises when you are not happy with the agent. Then they have a claim on anything you do on your own or with another agent.

(These agreement come into play because so many RE buyers think agents time is "free".)


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## Homerhomer (Oct 18, 2010)

Dmoney said:


> Do the benefits of having an agent (MLS access, expertise in local real estate) outweigh the costs (locked in with this agent, 2.5% commission would in theory raise the price by 2.5%).
> 
> I'm looking at it from the point of view of a buyer, so the commission in paid by the seller. I know that the existence of this commission in theory raises the end price, but would the selling agent not just pocket the 5% commission if a buyer without an agent comes?
> 
> ...


We are looking for a house without agent and following are my observations:

1) In a hot market the RE agents can see properties two days before I can, if one is really desperate to buy then I have disadvantage, it is not a disadvantage for any listings that are sitting on the market for any period of time.
2) RE agents prefer to deal with RE agents, few reasons, it's easier for them to make a deal when they exchange info they shouldn't have, they want to minimize buying and selling without reps to the minimum so they can keep milking the market, and if there is a viewing selling agent has to be there when I want to view, if I had buying agent this wouldn't be an issue.
3) Sellers care about net to them so there is huge advantage for me, for example we had an offer on a property where the net to the seller was the same but my offer was $10k lower than competition with buyer's agent, they took the other offer because they didn't want inspection clause in it (at least that's what I was told).
4) I am not receiving stupid emails with all properties listed on MLS, I only contact the once I am interested in.


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## Dmoney (Apr 28, 2011)

I'm currently in a situation where time is very much on my side. I'm looking to buy a place, but I'm not on any sort of timeline, I can wait a year or more if need be. 

If I get an agent, and find I can't work with him/her, I'm okay putting off the purchase for the length of time it takes for the BRA to expire.

I used an agent for my current lease, and he seemed pretty knowledgeable and professional. I spoke with him more recently about potentially purchasing a place in the not too distant future, and again he seemed pretty onside.

I'm wondering if signing a BRA is going to come back to bite me if I'm not going to be buying in the next 6 months?

While normally I'd be against locking into a binding agreement of this nature, I think the fact that I have such a flexible timeline really works to my advantage. I can quite easily just not buy a place if things go sour, since I'm not in a particular rush to do so.

Any thoughts?


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## MrMatt (Dec 21, 2011)

Don't sign for six months.
Sign for a month, or two or three.

Be very specific about the area, and the price range.
Anything that gets you out.


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## marina628 (Dec 14, 2010)

I think 90 days is fair to agent and seller,if my agent wanted 6 months I do not think I would give them the listing.My friend listed her house Thursday morning and it did not go on MLS until yesterday(SATURDAY). She got 5 showings Thursday and an offer Friday night before it actually went live on mls.Advantage of using agent is agents tend to help each other sell.


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