No license as a buyer, can I still get a 3% fee from the seller?

[Victor Peng]

Is this doable?

If seller is working with an agent?

[Kevin Sobilo]

@Victor Peng, the answer is no and here is why. However, there is a work-around that may work a VERY small portion of the time.

The seller has a contract with the listing agent that specifies the commission rate and what portion of the commission the listing agent will share with a cooperating broker/agent aka the buyer's agent. So, the seller has no choice about whether to share that money with you or not and the listing contract says the listing agent can share with the buyer's agent. It doesn't give them authority to give you money.

However, you MIGHT in some very limited cases be able to get some of that commission!

If you have a strong negotiating position as a buyer but the seller cannot lower the price any more, if you are very close in the negotiation you could suggest the listing agent agree to cut their commission rate so the sale price can be lowered further. Sometimes an agent will agree to make a sale work to cut their commission rate. This will not work very often, but maybe 1 out of 50 times it might.

You won't see the money paid directly to you as a commission but you get that money in the form of a reduced sale price made possible by lowering the overall commission rate.