Question
Can I terminate my Buyer Agency contract because of this?
I'm a first-time homebuyer who signed a Buyer Agency Agreement contract with my realtor. I signed it while doing paperwork after deciding to put in a bid for a house (I lost the bid when I was outbid by another buyer). Anyway, my realtor and I communicated via email mostly. When I found a house online I was interested in, I would email her the address and MLS#, and we would agree on a time to go look at it...usually the same day. I inquired about 5 houses this way. The first two I didn't like; the 3rd I lost a bid war (thats when I signed the papers), the fourth wasn't "residential" and that disqualified my loan, and the 5th I didn't get to look at because she said it was sold the day before. I emailed her the info to the fifth house I wanted to look at on June 9th. On June 10th she emailed me back and she said the house went under contract (offer accepted) just the day before. I was very disappointed that I had missed it by a day. Ten days later, on the evening of June 19th, I found this same house being advertised in the real estate section of craigslist. I called the agent that the house was listed under (I interrupted his supper) and when talking to him I found out that it was indeed available and it always was. The following Monday, June 22nd, I called him again and he verified verbally that the house was always available for sale. This past Friday, the 26th, I contacted him via email to ask, more specifically, if this house went under contract on the 9th of June, if only momentarily. He answered back that the house never did go under contract and he has no idea how or why I was told that. My realtor doesn't know that I've been in contact with the agent of this house and that I've confirmed through him that what she had told me about it being under contract was untrue. But I did ask her about it on Monday, June 22nd, to which she replied that it is indeed back on the market. I asked her what happened that it went "under contract" on the 9th, but is back on the market now. She stated that she would contact the agent and find out. That was this past thursday, the 25th. On friday, the 26th, she emailed me and she said she still hasn't heard from the agent as to why there was no sale on the house. I basically caught her in a lie. I haven't told her what I know, but because of all this I've lost all trust in her and her performance. I want to simply break the Buyer Agency contract with her, but I read through it and for the closing date of the contract, the date wasn't written, and its basically broken on the closing date when I find a house. Also, the contract isn't with her, its with who she works for...the broker. I don't want the broker to assign me someone else from his stable, I want this contract null and void so I can go find a reputable realtor to work with. I'm not sure how to go about attempting it, though. Do I contact the broker my realtor works for? Or do I talk with her directly, letting her know I found out the truth about the status of the house and that I don't want to have her work for me anymore? What would be the proper approach in this situation? The house in question is only about 2/3 the price of what I've normally been looking for...maybe she didn't want a smaller commission? I don't know...doesn't matter her reason, I want to break the contract and move onto someone else. BTW, I still haven't found a house (I decided to pass on the house in question because of basement issues) or another realtor yet. Expert Realtor: I DID ask her...re-read the question. All I've gotten from her were elusive or irrelevent responses. Finally I said: "Regarding the *** * **** house, as you may or may not recall, on the 10th of this month you stated via email that it had gone under contract the day before. But I found out this weekend that it is still available. So, naturally, I’m curious as to why I was told the house was unavailable at that time, but it is available now. I think it’s a question that anyone in my position as a homebuyer would seek an answer to." She then said that she'd call the realtor and let me know. I haven't heard from her since. I contacted the agent of the house myself 3 times. He's not a hard guy to get ahold of. Proudmom: thank you for the informative and insightful answer. Expert Realtor: you and Proudmom said some of the same things, but in drastically different tones. I hope for your clients' sake that your disposition here doesn't reflect your real-world attitude.
5 months ago - 0 answers
Best Answer
Chosen by Asker
You can go to or call her broker to dissolve the buyer agency agreement. But please be aware, the agent that has that house listed has more reason to lie to you (which is unethical) than your realtor. He will get the full commission on the house if he sells it himself. You can go to your realtor and have her pull the house up on the MLS system and show you (prove it to you) that the house was under contract, even if briefly. The system will show all activity on the house. I don't see why she would lie to you about that. Unless she's trying to push one of her own listings on you (which also is unethical). I would tell her what the other realtor told you, and ask her to show you on the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) where she saw that it was under contract. Don't assume she lied to you without giving her a chance to defend herself. I'd say the other realtor is probably the one who lied to you. But in the end, if you find out that your realtor did in fact lie for whatever reason or if you just plain old don't care for her, you can cancel the agreement through the broker of the company. Good luck to you.
Source(s)
I am a licensed realtor (an ethical one!).
by Proudmom
5 months ago
Asker's Rating: 
Other Answers
Catch who in a lie? The LISTING agent or yours? I'll be honest...you are one of these "drama" buyers that are just looking for something that is wrong. Did it EVER occur to you that the LISTING agent was lying, ????? Why did you assume that it was YOUR agent? Do you understand how irrational your reasoning is? Why in the world would your agent want to drag out a sale, spend money driving you around for a few more weeks when there is a home RIGHT NOW that you want to buy that you can close on SOONER so she gets paid SOONER.....vs a listing agent that knows darn good and well that if they put the house "under contract" that they know that they'll start losing buyers looking at the house....and they may mark it off their list forever. I'll be honest, you don't have a leg to stand on with terminating the contract...but if I was your buyer's agent and you confronted me with something like that, when you have NO CLUE how the MLS system works or that the listing agent was telling the truth or not, I would be pulling out a form to terminate the relationship so fast your head would swim. If a house is "under contract" and then comes off...an ASSUMPTION that some buyers make is that there was something WRONG with the house....not that financing didn't go through. Listing agents have ever incentive to lie about it. A proper approach is to be an adult AND ASK and not go behind your agent's back like a scared 5-year-old that broke the cookie jar.
by Expert Realtor- 5 months ago