@Elliot Lamson
I think your question has been more or less answered in the thread but just to clarify:
Yes, it is normal for the buyer to pay the buyer's agent a commission if none is offered up front by the seller (wholesaler or otherwise). However, the agent's mistake came in not disclosing that up front. In Virginia, we have an agreement that buyers enter into with their agent that lays out a compensation rate regardless of what is being offered by seller but you have to (as an agent) make sure your buyer knows about the compensation up front if it differs from your buyer brokerage agreement. For a FSBO, the agent has to ask the homeowner up front. In my experience, most FSBO homeowners have been more than willing to offer a buyer's agent commission when I ask them about it before presenting the deal to my client.
Secondly, and this is just more my opinion and a note to wholesalers, good wholesalers will disclose whether or not a buyer's agent commission is being offered up front on their marketing material or during the presentation to the agent. It makes the whole process run smoother by eliminating this scenario and also it helps build a relationship with the agent so when you send a deal over, the agent is happy to float it out to their investors. There's a few great wholesalers here in Richmond that do just that for me and every time they send me something I forward to my active investor buyers.
