In real estate why do you have to pay a withdrawal listing fee?
Posted by admin on 24 Nov 2008 4:45 pm. Filed under Renting & Real Estate.
usa_jcrew68
Im selling my condo and I have to pay a withdrawal fee fof $995 to my real estate agent if i decide to take my condo off the market within 8 months. He also has a lockbox on my property. I feel that he has control over my property and it makes me nervous. In other words, if i sell condo he gets a 3% commission OR if I take condo off market i owe him $995. However if i dont sell condo WITHIN (8 months)then i owe him nothing. I THIS A STANDARD FEE AMONG REAL ESTATE AGENTS IN FLORIDA?
Im selling my condo and I have to pay a withdrawal fee fof $995 to my real estate agent if i decide to take my condo off the market within 8 months. He also has a lockbox on my property. I feel that he has control over my property and it makes me nervous. In other words, if i sell condo he gets a 3% commission OR if I take condo off market i owe him $995. However if i dont sell condo WITHIN (8 months)then i owe him nothing. I THIS A STANDARD FEE AMONG REAL ESTATE AGENTS IN FLORIDA?
On November 25th, 2008 at 2:15 pm
I would ask to get a copy of the contract that you signed when you made him your listing agent. There are often exceptions which allow you to remove your home from the market.
The fee also seems VERY high. I would call another realtor in addition to a lawyer for advice. Your contract might in fact state that you will have to reimburse him/her for advertising costs. If all else fails, write him a letter statinig that real estate brokers work on word of mouth, and what will come from yours will not be pretty.
On November 26th, 2008 at 7:32 pm
8 months seems like a long contract I was reluctant to sign & commit to a standrd Australian realestate contract of 8 WEEKS! the passing of the contract should be an assurance to the seller that the estate agent will work hard to sell the property& that the seller isnt just dicking the agent around, check your contract, if your still not happy there should be a realestate ombudsmen who can help you out
On November 28th, 2008 at 6:24 pm
if you haven’t signed yet, then negotiate it. It’s your condo!! Tell the Realtor exactly YOUR terms, or to take a hike. period, the end.
On November 29th, 2008 at 4:37 pm
Get real! You are being taken! ONLY if it was in your listing contract could it apply.
Usually, the broker may not want to cancel…but the will withdraw it.
I would say DO NOT PAY or sign anything until you show this to a local real estate lawyer.
On November 30th, 2008 at 5:52 pm
First of all remember that you have control over your property, not the agent unless you choose to give up that control. The lockbox is there to help facilitate the sale of your home. It allows other agents to access the property to show to prospective buyers. If you did not have a lockbox, you would have to make other arrangements for someone to let the other agents in. Lockboxes can be set to only work for specific time periods. You should discuss with your agent when the property can be shown (day/time) and have him put that information in the listing for other agents so that they will know when they can access the property. If you only want it shown by appointment, then tell your agent that. He can not put a lockbox on the property without your permission.
As for the withdrawal fee, I can’t say whether that is high or not for your area but if you agreed to pay one when you signed the listing agreement, then you are obligated to pay it. If he sells the house then he earned his commission. If he fails to sell it in the period agreed, then he did not uphold his end of the contract so did not earn his fee. However, if you withdraw it, then it seems fair that he should be compensated for his time and efforts. After all, if you hadn’t withdrawn it, he might have been able to get it sold and earned his commission.
As for the amount, what exactly will he be doing for you as a listing agent? Is he just putting a sign in the yard and adding it to the MLS? Or does he offer flyers, open houses, newspaper ads, magazine ads, TV ads, virtual tours, etc.? Is that a flat amount or is it pro-rated based on how long you have it listed before withdrawing it? I can tell you that 8 months of advertising will definitely cost me more than $995.
I don’t know if this is a common practice in FL but I know that more agents are starting to do this as we see a new trend of sellers “list hopping”. That is listing with a particular firm then pulling the listing after it doesn’t sell in a few weeks and listing with another firm. I was told by one seller that they did this because it goes into the MLS and is advertised as a “new” listing and therefore gets more traffic. This is extremely unfair to the poor agents who have put in their time and money to market the property.
So what is fair then?
On December 4th, 2008 at 12:54 am
I did not have a withdrawal fee. But that’s because that’s how I structured my contract. Make sure you read your contract carefully and check to see if there’s a withdrawal clause. If there isn’t, tell him to remove their lockbox or you’ll charge them for storage.