Question (CA): I am a fully licensed R.E. broker in California. I have an old friend in the Dallas, TX area who wants me to sell her investment property. Do I need a Texas real estate license to list this property for sale?
Answer: Yes. Texas, like California, does not have any reciprocal licensing agreements with any states. You can, however, refer your Dallas friend to the Texas Licensed Broker of your choice and receive a referral fee.
Question (GA): I have signed an exclusive right to sell agreement with a real estate broker and my home has been on the market for about 3 weeks. I have decided that it is in my best interest for me to keep my home and rent it out. My agreement with the broker is for 90 days. What is my obligation to the broker in this instance?
Answer: Your obligations to the Listing Broker in an Exclusive Right To Sell Listing Agreement are specified in the Listing Contract. If you have changed your mind about selling, let the Broker know. You can withdraw the listing from the MLS so that it will no longer appear in the MLS Compilations of active available properties. As long as you don't sell the property, you should not owe a commission.
However, you could be liable for reimbursing any out-of-pocket expenses incurred by the Broker, and in some cases a fee for the termination or withdrawal of the listing (Again, such expenses should be clearly indicated in your listing agreement). Then you just let the listing terminate when the 90 days is up. However, if your listing agreement has a "Sale or Lease" provision, you will need to wait until the listing expires before leasing it.
Or, you could ask the broker to take it off the market for sale and to change it to a lease listing instead. The best of both worlds would be to have the property listed for Sale or For Lease, and revise the sale asking price to a figure you would accept but anticipating that you will most likely be leasing it to a tenant.
Question (ID): I understand that a seller does not have an obligation to sell his or her property even if it is under a listing contract. Does a seller owe a commission to his listing realtor if a full price offer that meets all terms is procured, or only if such an offer is actually signed and accepted by the seller?
Answer: The Idaho Association of Realtors' Exclusive Right To Sell listing agreement, RE-16 Exclusive Seller Representation Agreement, states the following:
"6. BROKERAGE FEE. (A) If Broker or any person, including SELLER, procures a purchaser ready, willing and able to purchase, transfer or exchange the property on the terms stated herein or on any other price and terms agreed to in writing, the SELLER agrees to pay a total brokerage fee of _________% of the contract or purchase price OR $_____________. The fee shall be paid in cash at closing unless otherwise designated by the Broker in writing."
Your Broker (or Agent acting on behalf of the Broker) did procure a ready, willing and able buyer as evidenced by the signed written offer (we are assuming it conformed to the terms stated in your listing agreement), so we'd say the Broker "earned" the commission.
The question then becomes whether or not the "earned" commission is "payable" to the Broker. The listing agreement states that it is, but only upon closing "... unless otherwise designated by the Broker in writing."
So your answer depends upon whether the Broker otherwise designated the commission would be payable in the event you breached the listing agreement, failed to close through no fault of the buyer, or such other similar language.
Question (SC): My wife and I are buying a house. I confess we have dragged our feet a bit and did not get the appraisal completed in time to notify the sellers within 10 days of ratification of the contract that we were approved for financing for the purchase of the house. That was supposed to be given to them in written form according to the contract. Now they want to withdraw the house from the market and say our contract is null and void. What do you think?
Answer: We assume that the real estate contract is properly signed and complies with the applicable South Carolina real estate contract statutes. 10 days is a very short period of time to allow for obtaining your appraisal in order to obtain a loan.
The terms of your purchase and sale agreement will determine whether the seller can declare your contract null and void for your failure to obtain lender approval. Another way of stating this is that you signed a contract with the seller to purchase the property and part of that contract involved doing everything necessary to obtain lender financing, including obtaining the appraisal in a timely manner with notice to the seller that the property satisfied the lender requirements. Thus, you defaulted on the contract and the contract states that in such event of default the contract is null and void.
