I should add that we have not been in contact with the individuals that were shown the house, this information comes to us from friends of theirs that live in the neighborhood.

Why would you not want to show it to them again?

The relationship between the agent and them should not matter to you.

I would call the agent back and let her/him know that you heard that they want to come back w/o her/him. See how they respond. If they have a Buyers Agency Relationship, then they will have to use her.

I never show a client a FSBO unless I get the seller to sign a Commission Agreement Form that explains that if the sale goes to close, then the seller agrees to pay me a pre agreed upon sum.

I am just wondering if there is any repercussion for showing the house to these individuals without the agent that brought them the first time. While we did not physically sign an agreement with her, our communication was by text. It is also my understanding that the individuals that are interested did not sign anything stating that were entering into a buyers agency relationship.

Kind of low life to try to cut agent out that brought you clients...

I'd call agent back and tell them the people want to see it again, or tell buyers to have that agent bring them by again.

They wouldn't get anything unless they sell it which is more than "just showing it one time". And you did give them your word that of they sold it to those buyers you would pay them the 3 percent. Your word should be your bond.

This is why many realtors hate dealing with fsbos.

First of all, it seems like you are getting listing agents and buyer's agents mixed up.

The pictures, listing etc etc etc is done by a listing agent. There is no listing agent in this situation. A listing agent would cost you an ADDITIONAL ~3%.

The buyer's agent brings the buyers to the table and does the paperwork for the buyers and is on the buyers side.

You agreed to pay the buyer's agent if this deal closes. So I think you are on the hook for that. If the buyers no longer choose to use the agent, maybe you could try to re-negotiate with the agent since they won't have to do any more work. But the agent could stand his ground. It's just that if he does, it might mean that this sale doesn't occur at all since his involvement increases the cost.

But either way, whatever you have to pay the agent, just add that cost to the price that you'd accept from these buyers. Your net gain is the only thing that matters.

You don't have to honour the bottom line price that you told the agent.

And next time, don't tell the agent your bottom line price. They don't work for you.

The realtor made the mistake of taking your word.

I worked for a broker for a while. Like Linda commented, we have a lot of good fizzbo stories.

And THIS is why I always get a signed Commission Agreement in place before I show a FSBO. Even if the seller and I have to sign the form while my clients wait in the car.

Showing homes is the easy part of our job.

If you listed it on Zillow, then you were aware that chances were that an agent was going to bring you a buyer. Did you not think this part through?

Out of curiosity, what does listing it on Zillow have to do with an agent bringing buyers? Where would one list it if one didn't want to show through an agent?

Are you even aware of what Zillow is and that it allows homeowners who wish to list their house as FSBO? I chose to list FSBO due to the simple fact that I did not work to work with an agent, as I find it absolutely rediculous that someone makes $15,000 for a job that can be done by the owner. $15,000!!!

Do you realize that there are 2 types of realtors in a typical transaction? One works for the seller and one works for the buyer?

FSBO means that you are doing the work for yourself on the seller's side. There is still the buyers' agent. The buyers aren't going to let you do the work that their agent normally would do.

So you are saving half of the realtor's fees from a typical transaction.

If you only work with buyers that are representing themselves, then you really narrow down the pool and it could take a long time to sell your house.

And if the buyers aren't using a realtor, then they will expect some of the 'savings' to come their way. So you will never save 100% of what would normally go to the agents.

I think the issue here is that Zillow has a 'contact agent' field which rather disingenuously does not make it clear that the agent isn't the listing agent. Agents pay Zillow to have their profile posted - it's a lead generation device. In this case the agent did nothing to bring the home to the potential buyer - they were the ones who found it and mistakenly assumed they were contacting the listing agent. Perhaps it was unclear that this was an FSBO - the FSBO's I've seen on Zillow have been clearly labeled as such and include specific contact info for the seller.

That said, now that they have already seen the home with the agent, and that their is a clear trail showing communication between seller and the agent, I don't think you can cut her out - perhaps legally you could as no docs were signed - I'm not sure of this (and bad on her for not having her clients sign something).

But as greg_2015 points out - now that the potential buyers know that you would sell the house for X-3%, they aren't going to pay more. Nor should they - as he rightly points out, and I have experienced as a FSBOer in the past, when an unrepresented buyer engages an FSBO you end up splitting the commission savings (and hopefully using a portion of that for experienced lawyers for both sides).

Zillow gets the majority of their information on listings from the MLS, like everyone else. If you don't want to list with the MLS, that's your right. but, it's also the agent's prerogative to never show your home to any if their clients, for reasons exactly like this. You DID agree to give a commission to the agent who brought you a buyer. You can be sued for breach if you don't follow through with that agreement.

Your house will already not be shown to the majority of buyers, simply because it's a FSBO. Realtors avoid those like the plague, for reasons exactly like this. Homeowner sellers lack professionalism and objectivity, which is why most buyers use a realtor to deal with them if they want to see a particular house. Even fellow DIY folks don't want to deal with that kinda crap. They want arms length to the histrionics.

If you want to be totally blackballed from even the hungriest of agents, just try an end run around the agent that you agreed to pay. That is sleazy, and sleazy will never ever sell a house. Sleazy will sit on the market forever. Word gets out. To everyone in town. If you wouldn't want your gramma to know that you lied to the realtor, then don't lie to a realtor and tell them you will pay them, and then attempt to renig.

Calm down folks ... I informed the agent that their client had requested to see the house. She, in turn, called the buyer and they backed out due to the fact they thought that they could get the house for the cost after commission.

Sophie Wheeler stated, "Homeowner sellers lack professionalism and objectivity..."

In your anger you are using a very broad brush to paint homeowners in such a negative way, best you never work with with unprofessional sellers?