Last week I got an email from someone who’d seen a Silicon Valley house she liked from a real estate agent whom she didn’t like.  She wondered, “do I have to buy the house with that agent?” 

The answer, of course, is not always clear. It depends on your relationship with the agent.  It may also depend on why you choose to buy the home with someone else’s assistance.

(1) Your relationship with the real estate agent

Did you sign a buyer broker agreement with that Realtor? If so, you may owe a commission to her if you buy the home through someone else.

Did you write an offer on that property with the agent? If so, again you may owe a commission to him if you hire someone else to help you purchase it afterwards. 

In many cases, there is a verbal contract that you are working with a Silicon Valley real estate professional exclusively. This does “count” too but it may be easier to change your status if it’s a verbal agreement.

(2) Problem agents, problem consumers.  Do you want or need to break the relationship with your current agent? 

Is your agent giving too pushy? Doesn’t seem to know what he or she is doing?  Too hard to reach?  Too busy to really assist you? Or doing something else that you perceive as a “red flag”?  Sometimes agents should be fired. 

You most likely can break that agency relationship with a problem agent if it’s a verbal contract only and you haven’t written an offer on the property in question, but you must  clearly tell him or her that you are not going to continue working together and then have a gap in time between then and when you do write an offer on the home (at least a few days, if not a few weeks).  You can break the agency relationship verbally or in an email or both, but it needs to be clear so that there is no misunderstanding. A call or voice mail followed up by an email would be very clear.

You can terminate the agency relationship  very nicely and graciously, of course.   It is not necessary to tell him or her why you are electing to discontinue the relationship, but he or she will certainly wonder so you may nicely share your reasons.  I would just say try to be pleasant and thank the agent for the time spent.

Sometimes there are a few problem consumers working with ill-will who think that they can work with an agent, see a lot of homes, and then simply either go directly to a seller or listing agent or bring in an out of area friend or relative to write up the offer and close the deal.  If a consumer does this not because of a difficulty with the first agent but just in order to save money (or get a rebate) etc., it is possible that the first salesperson will cry “foul!” and press to be paid a commission.  The lawsuit in this case would be what’s called a “procuring cause” lawsuit.  Procuring cause means that the first agent was really the reason why the consumer purchased the home, and therefore is entitled to a commission (which the buyer might be forced to pay if doing a last hour agent switch).

A good example of a procuring cause lawsuit is the case of Jerry Seinfeld, who had to pay his agent $100,000 when he bought a home without her because he could not reach her one day.  Impatience will cost you!

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Recently I’ve had the uncomfortable experience (a couple of times) in which potential clients were overly secretive about their situation. One was in Los Gatos, another in San Jose.

I’m going to be blunt here: it is really hard to help when we, as agents, don’t know what is truly going on. It’s not a whole lot different than keeping important things from your doctor or lawyer. If you want help, it is imperative that you tell your hired professionals what is going on.

For that matter, if you are interviewing agents to list your home or to help you to buy your next home, expect those agents to ask you about your needs and motivation. Hiring an agent (and the agent agreeing to take you on as a client) is a two way relationship. Both sides need to be clear and honest with each other.

Let me give you an example. Years ago, I had some prospects (not yet clients) in Monte Sereno who inquired off and on for years about selling their home. At one point, it became a “hurry up” situation. Luckily, they told me the truth: one of them had been diagnosed as terminally ill. The sick one did not want to saddle the survivor with selling the home after the death.

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