I am going to discuss this with my realtor. But looking for some feedback from others in the know. I researched the web and it seems she is in some sort of violation. If she is what should I do about it?

My mother is selling her house, she has moved in with us, and I am the one doing all the talk and work with our realtor. This Realtor is an acquaintance of ours and a neighbor in our neighborhood that we have known for 15yrs, we are not what I would call friends as in hanging with each other or our family's doing things together on a regular basis but we have mutual friends in the neighborhood and have been at the same gatherings on a regular basis. She is also the realtor my mom used to buy her current house 6yrs ago, that she is now selling.

A potential buyer, who holds an active realtor license but doesn't practice, is wanting to do a contingency sale based on his home selling first before buying ours and offering us asking price if we do. He reached out to our realtor, the selling realtor, and asked her to help him with assessing his property. He wanted to see what she thought on his asking price and what she felt it would take to sell his home even though he is going to sell it himself though not as a Sell by Owner but as his own realtor. Our realtor agreed to look at his property. She wanted to let us know what she thought about the property before we did any commitment to a contingency sale with him. She looked at it also as a realtor helping another realtor. I was ok with that because it put eyes on the property and we would have a better idea of the potential selling of what his property would be and she agreed.

The Concern.....During her time with this potential buyer/realtor, our realtor told him that we are dropping the price of our property every week by $1K until it sells. This is an agreement we just made with our realtor, it is not public information, nor did we give our realtor any permission to let anyone know this was our plan going forward. As of 5/18 and starting 5/21 we have signed with our realtor to drop the asking price by $1K per week on every Thursday.

My question is by releasing this info did she just violate the agreement/contract? I asked her why she would tell him this information and she said she was being upfront and honest with him about our property and where her client stood. I didn't at that moment get into a conversation with her on releasing this info to a potential buyer even though at the time I was really confused as why she would do this. It hasn't set well with me and as stated I have done research and then asked a few good friends with some experience what their thoughts are. I will be talking to her tomorrow about this.

Based on the info I have seen on the web she is in violation by disclosing her client's intentions on pricing. This release of info could impact the financial outcome of our sell which is a violation. If she has created an ethnic violation or breached our contract what or how should I go about confronting her with this? Is this a legit reason to end our current selling contract with her, if we decide to go this route, without financial responsibilities on our end? I am not looking to get into some suit at this time just wanting some feedback/thoughts, professionally or personally, on moving forward with our realtor.

Thanks in advance.

How does revealing this info benefit you? Is she can’t explain that to your reasonable satisfaction, she did wrong.

My opinion, your agent breached fiduciary duty.

quote:

Originally posted by rangeme101:
The Concern.....During her time with this potential buyer/realtor, our realtor told him that we are dropping the price of our property every week by $1K until it sells.

Since she has admitted it, take it to the manager of the office the realtor works out of.

It would definitely be a violation of ethics, most likely also the terms of the listing agreement. As to what the recourse would be, that might depend on what happens on this transaction (if one happens) and what the manager says.

Personally, I'd tell the manager that if they agree that all such discounts now will be coming dollar-for-dollar from their commissions, then that would save me having a chat with the state licensing board about the matter.

Not really, as he's not in a position to wait, if he had cash on hand and was willing to buy but now can simply wait for a price drop and then bought at some future time you MAY have a case. however anyone actively looking on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday would see the same behavior and also be informed.

quote:

Originally posted by FenderBender:
Not really, as he's not in a position to wait, if he had cash on hand and was willing to buy but now can simply wait for a price drop and then bought at some future time you MAY have a case. however anyone actively looking on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday would see the same behavior and also be informed.

Kind of agree BUT the fact of revealing the weekly automatic price reduction vs. a “at will” a.k.a. a “I feel like a price reduction today” whether or not on a specific day. I mean, it could just be that it’s the only day the Realtor and seller can communicate due to schedule conflicts.

Probably a minor ethics violation but it would be a firing offense if my realtor ever divulged my strategy. Time for a Come to Jesus moment and somebody better be good at groveling.

quote:

My question is by releasing this info did she just violate the agreement/contract?

Question is, what does the written contract say exactly? Does it say anything to the tune of, “Selling realtor is barred from divulging personal communications between themselves and seller to the prospective buyer, unless given permission from seller”?

Btw, I’m not a realtor and never played one on TV. Just asking for my education purpose.

I don't think it is a huge deal as I understand it. I would tell her to present the offer from this buyer at todays price with in a week. And that info regarding the weekly price drop is only between you and her.

Seems all backwards to me.

I thought that Realtors were supposed to price the property $20,000 or more lower than what you'd realistically accept in order to manufacture an auction (conducted by an unlicensed party) which resulted in a bidding war.

I spent a very short time in Real Estate a relatively long time ago, so things may have changed, but to me, I'd say fire your realtor, immediately.

I'd also inform your realtor's broker of your actions and the cause, because listing with another realtor could be viewed as an attempt to avoid paying the agreed-upon commission. You don't want this to come back and haunt you by impacting whatever sale you end up doing.

Consider talking to your real estate attorney, as well.

Appreciate the responses. I will be talking to her about all this. I'm not interested in letting her go but will do what's necessary.

If you’re not trying to get out of a contract with her to sell, what are you looking for?
She shouldn’t have disclosed that information and I’d be concerned about her judgement going forward. There are certain things she has to disclose to a buyer (defects for example) but others that you might tell her about, like your personal situation, that she shouldn’t.
That’s also why you need your own realtor and not one doing dual agency.

Probably an ethical violation and definitely a breach of fiduciary duty. Her ass would be gone if she was my real estate agent.

I’m no expert but it seems as though he’s offering you 100% of your asking price so the $1000/week price drop doesn’t impact you or him in this instance. The downfall is it may take time for his property to sell but you’ll still see your full asking price unless there’s an offer above asking price? You could always ask for a larger than normal non refundable deposit to make up for lost revenue if he’s unable to complete the transaction. Full disclosure I haven’t slept much for a few days so I may have misread your original post and I apologize if I misunderstood. I hope everything works out for you and your family.

Who is she working for?

Besides herself

Can't trust realtors. When I tried to sell my parent's home, our realtor told prospective buyers it was an inheritance issue. When she presented a low ball offer, I countered with raising the price the same amount for that seller. She didn't want to convey that to the buyer. Most of the time she was MIA. I think her focus was getting her kids into houses. She was the realtor we used when we bought our house 30 years ago.
Familiarity breeds contempt. I would get out of the listing contract and find another agent

Grounds to terminate any agreement with her, and I would. You might ask a real estate attorney, but telling a prospective buyer your pricing plan so he can wait a few weeks for it to come down is really not cool.

Agents want to make a sale and get paid, so they will do shady things.

I’d shit can her tonight.

She is YOUR agent, not his-he benefits from this price reduction knowledge.

And I’d file a complaint with whomever is her boss.

Business is business.

Whether it violates her profession's standards and practices... it certainly violates ethics. Why would an agent representing any seller of any product reveal to potential buyers, 'hey, hang in there, we're dropping $1k ea week'.

It was my understanding that a realtor couldn't work for both buyer and seller. Even though yours isn't really "working" for the buyer she probably shouldn't have let herself get involved. You have an asking price contingent offer on the table and your plans of dropping the price shouldn't affect that offer. It's possible she disclosed your selling plan to help the buyer with valuing their property. In any case your realtor let herself get into something she shouldn't have.