how to speak directly with seller

Question

Going through two agents (seller/buyer) is a real pain when you are trying to negotiate with a seller and leaves plenty of room for miscommunication. I've used the power of the internet to connect directly will sellers before, but its not always that easy. I'm not trying to cut anyone out of the deal or go behind anyone's back, but talking to the seller directly provides 100x more information and gives me a better feel for the property/person and if they are someone I want to do do business with. Is there a way I can ask the listing agent to let me contact the seller without them getting all insecure? Thanks,

Chris

Chris Mason · Answer

Hi @Chris Moore,

If  your strategy is to get a great deal by pitching to the seller directly, best bet will be to find unrepresented sellers. EG, FSBOs, off-market, not listed, etc.

The entire reason listing agents exist is to help the sellers net the largest amount possible by representing said sellers interests better than they themselves could. If the listing agent is doing their job well, you will not be directly interacting with the sellers.

I did buy a home where the listing agent sucked in more ways than I will herein enumerate. That was excellent news for me. When I showed up with my agent to view the home, the sellers were present (I don't know that the listing agent failed to tell them not to be present, but the other areas wherein the listing agent sucked makes me strongly suspect this to be the case). My agent went to work without skipping a beat, discrediting the listing agent and presenting what he thought the home was worth and why, I of course followed his lead with much somber head nodding and "oh that's a really good point" type comments. We were the first offer, and they accepted. Sure enough, we got the home for less than list price. In the Bay Area.

The sellers later gave their agent a 5 star review on Zillow, heh. Which means it'll be hard to shop by "listing agent sucks at their job," since online reviews only tell you the consumer perception about how good someone is at their job, which is only vaguely correlated with how good they actually are. You might get lucky like I did if you try to schedule showings with little notice (we were there at 5:30 pm the day it hit the market). But more I think you should just put "what to do when the listing agent sucks" in your tool-box as one more thing at your disposal, rather than necessarily putting all your eggs in this basket.

Chris Moore · Answer

haha well keep your customers happy!

Chris Mason · Answer

Most agents do actually try to do right by their clients, believe it or not, which would include not letting you (or any other buyer, or buyer's agent) within earshot of their sellers under any circumstances for reasons that should  be self evident just from this thread alone.

Other agents, a minority, might act as you suggest. The listing agent I described above more or less did. That listing agent also got 3.5%, when 2.5% is the norm for our area. Her online reviews are 5 out of 5 across the board so, yup, sellers obviously don't necessarily know the difference.

Chris Moore · Answer

haha thanks Chris, I agree that is the listing agent's job, but a the end of the day isn't a property under contract is worth way more to the agent than the potential of squeezing out another few % of the sale price? Most sellers won't know the difference.

Chris Moore · Answer

Not every seller's agent will let you talk to the seller. I am talking residential here. I don't have any real experience in commercial. Are there any tips or tactics?

I understand they do provide a service and are needed. I am willing to bet that an agent negotiates just a little harder when it is their property they are selling/buying.  Am I wrong?

Blair Poelman · Answer

It's common for buyers and seller who are represented to negotiate directly - especially in commercial RE, but the brokers are usually involved in every significant conversation - This often leads to a bit of a cluster if the broker doesn't know what's going on.

For example:  buyer and seller come up with some modification or agreement - which is technically just fine, but if the brokers don't know about the agreement and then we go to close only to find out somebody missed a huge deadline that should have been extended, or we're XXXXXX dollars off price on the settlement, or there's a lease back, or there's a bunch of personal property that's included, but each party remembers the handshake agreements differently.

Brokers already take on a decent chunk of liability on every single deal, so allowing this to happen is an excellent way to make that liability even bigger.  At a minimum, you should at least have the broker be involved in all discussions between the parties - even if they are just listening, and then have them formalize whatever negotiations with the proper paperwork, ensure all laws are followed, and so everybody is always on the same page.

Plus, the broker is getting paid to do a job.  Put them to work.

Christopher Phillips · Answer

@Chris Moore

Ask your agent if it's okay to discuss your offer directly with the seller.

Listings now have check boxes if an offer can be presented directly. Usually, when offers cannot be presented directly to the seller, the listing agent and seller will sign a document that states that all offers must be presented through the listing agent.

how to speak directly with seller

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