Negotiating commission without an agent

[Paul Garcia]

Today I submitted a verbal offer on a purchase for land in Hawaii. I contacted the listing agent directly and told him we're not currently working with an agent. I offered that the agent could either represent us as a "dual agent" or that we would represent ourselves without an agent. 

He preferred not to operate as a dual agent since we hadn't worked together. I understood and was happy with that, figuring that meant some savings on commission, too. However, after I submitted our offer and he presented it to the seller, he informed me the seller would still be responsible for the full commission. He said that, since I don't have an agent, he would be taking the full commission since "he'll be doing twice the work."

Can anyone help me out with how to approach making an offer without an agent? I have several people I could invite in on the deal to take the commission over letting this listing agent take double and he's literally offering me nothing. Up to this point, I've been marketing and hunting for a deal without an agent. My expectation is that this offers the seller savings and, indirectly, gives me the ability to offer a bit less.

This listing agent trying to take it all definitely hurt our offer. I specifically stated that our price was assuming "no buyer's commission" but that does not appear to have been communicated to the seller. In this cases, the seller has a counter-offer out to another buyer that they could of withdrawn since we basically offered list price. As it stands tonight, the seller is giving the other buyer priority at least until the counter expires.

[Ryan Murdock]

Originally posted by @Russell Brazil:

This would be called a variable rate commission, commission varying based on offer. In my market, a variable rate commission needs to be part of the listing agreement, and disclosed in the MLS. If it is not, and it happens, the agent is subject to fines and possible revocation of their license.

 I do disclose when used.