Realtor Question

[Gerald Thompson]

OK... I need some advice. I have a property that is listed by a realtor. No more than a week into the contract, I get a potential lease option deal on the same house in which the realtor is not aware of at this point. What can I do in this situation? I do not want to create a bad relation with my realtor, but also don't want a lead to get away. The house is in a community that does not have a high volume of potential customers; therefore, a serious customer could be far and in between. I thought of standard rent for 6 months (end of the realtor contract obligation) but the tenant doesn't want to leave when the house sells. Should I walk from the deal and hope for a sale later? What are my legal rights in these types of scenarios?

Any input would be appreciated!

Thanks

[Brian Gibbons]

@Gerald Thompson 

Okay you signed the listing agreement with the realtor on a house that you own?

What kind of money is at stake with the commission? Understand that the realtor has a boss called the broker, where the broker is a good business person they are not going to enjoy their agent or their employee to be able to break listing agreements easily. This is brand-new relationship, and having dealing with lease option deals for over 30 years, it's a common occurrence when dealing with listed houses.

Let's say you have a hundred thousand dollars house and is listing agreement with the commission at stake of 3% or $3000.

You may want to go down to the broker of record and asked him to release you of the listing for say thousand dollars. It's so brand-new that the work they have into the contract, marketing etc., will be minimal. But you must get something in writing from them, a release of listing, stating that they are due no funds from that property selling in the future. It's a negotiation with the broker of record.

I know of a horror story where someone asked me what to do with a listing agreement, and the agent agreed verbally to release the listing, but the seller did not actually talk to the broker, and the broker got pissed off and sued.

If you sign an agreement with a realtor, understand that if you lease on that property, and do not have the broker of record release the listing, you have a legal problem. Bottom line, see the broker of record and get a release of the listing in writing.

Also, you can always pay the commission when the house sells on lease to own. Everybody's happy.