Customer Service
Question:
A buyer visted my Open House, and requested me to lower my commission to my Seller, if they bought the property without using a real estate agent. I am not quite sure what to do here. Can I act for them providing Customer Service?
Answer:
This type of Buyer is problematic. At best, you want to provide them with Customer Service. That’s one step lower than your Client, the Seller. They know a little, and that runs a major risk for you since you are their sole and only source of information, at this point in time.
What they are asking is that you reduce your commission to your Client, the Seller, provided that they are the Buyer. That would be dangerous. You would then be permitting them to enter negotiations on a private contract between yourself and your Seller.
However, if you give them the impression that it would be negotiable in some way, you have just traded them up to a Client, which is exactly what you don’t want to do. And, yes, they could sue you later on this issue. So, the question would be: “are they that clever?”
Treat them as “Clients” or simply refer them to someone in the business.
Brian Madigan LL.B., Broker