Bought FSBO without using realtor

6 years ago

last modified: 6 years ago

We had a family friend that happened to be a realtor. She showed us several houses (5-6) and answered our questions but in the end, we ended up finding a home FSBO on our own that was not willing to deal w an agent/fees ect. The agent did not ever have us sign any contracts or anything. We eventually bought this house and everything went smoothly even with no realtors. The question is, do we have any obligation to give the realtor any money? Being that it is a family friend we wondered about cash in a card for Christmas or something to show appreciation? Thoughts? How much money/is this expected? Thanks

Featured Answer

Lyndee Lee

6 years ago

A giftcard for a nice restaurant with a note from you expressing your appreciation for her time and effort would be a good approach. Even better would be an invitation to join you for a night out, perhaps going to a play, concert, game or other event, accompanied by dinner and and drinks.

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Comments (6)

Denita
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
No, you have no obligation to give your Realtor friend any money for a sale in which she didn't participate and in which she had no buyers agreement signed with you. If you decided you wanted to reward her monetarily anyway for this sale, she can't accept any funds directly from you. The funds would have to be paid to her broker and the broker would have to then disburse a portion of the funds to her after deducting the normal brokerage split. It is unethical and illegal for the Realtor to accept these type of funds outside of the normal course of business. It is a serious offense and she could lose her real estate license.
andrjd thanked Denita
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C Marlin
6 years ago
A nice gift card for their time and a big thank you, done.
andrjd thanked C Marlin
Stax
6 years ago
What Lyndee Lee said!
midcenturymodernlove
6 years ago
I would send her something if she spent some time with you. It's a nice gesture.
andrjd thanked midcenturymodernlove
pudgeder
6 years ago
About 2 years ago we sold my late FIL's home FSBO. A realtor friend helped us immensely. She answered many questions and gave us great advice. We offered to pay her, she declined.

We gave her 4 gift cards to a 4 different restaurants. It was the least we could do for her.
andrjd thanked pudgeder