Anyone have any dealings as a buyer's agent for Auction.com?
I was asked to represent an out of state buyer on a contract for Auction.com. I do work for this client on a routine basis. I was to be paid 1% and I signed the contract as the brokerage for the selling side. I was sent several emails by the title company giving me the impression that we were on track to close and that I was certainly representing the buyer. I received the hud statement and noticed that my brokerage was not on the hud. I addressed this with the title company three times by email why my brokerage was not showing on the hud as the selling brokerage, all it stated was that the selling brokerage was out of state and it was not the amount that I was supposed to get.
Finally I received an email from the title company stating that the closing instructions did not state that I was receive a commission and it was my job to contact Auction.com. HUH? The hud had supposedly already been approved? REALLY?
I sent the person at the title company an email back stating that per contract agreement I was supposed to be paid a commission and regardless of closing instructions the Hud was not correct.
I called the buyer's representative who said she would get a hold of someone at Auction.com and I also called the person from Auction.com who originally contacted me for the contract. He said he would get a hold of the closing department at Auction.com to try to get this straightened out.
One of my agents told me that Auction.com is notorious for stiffing agents and not paying them a commission.
I have worked with them as a listing agent. but the title companies were on top of it and I did get paid.
I have had problems with this particular title company, it is one of those out of state title companies that seems to be impossible to get anything done correctly.
I am totally flabbergasted that this has happened and I am not sure what to think.
I am going to wait until tomorrow to see if this can be resolved, but if it is not, I may need to seek further action.
Can someone let me know if I am out of touch to think I am going to be stiffed and what would my options be other than legal counsel? I do not want to get out of favor with my client, but on the other hand this is just flat out wrong. I feel like I have been had.
Replies
If you really want to put it in MLS you can offer $1 buyer broker fee. You might have to pay the dollar.
Buyer's agent could be paid by the buyer who would also have to pay the buyer's premium (added to the purchase price). When I have a listing that goes to online auction, I usually hope it doesn't sell and I get it back.
The commission is much higher when the auction company isn't interfering. I got one back last week. Auction.com produced zero results. We are negotiating a decent cash offer already.
the MLS's I belong to have minimum commission amounts.
That is really bad to have one sided commission, Karl. Chase usually service the account because their business is to resell their mortgages to new holders/investor owners of the loan.
I wonder if those people at Auction.com that are handling the buyers are licensed. In California, you have to be California licensed to do any direct transactions with the buyers. I know when I did this last transaction on Auction.com, the people involved were not licensed because I checked all their names. The person on the contract was not licensed even though the company had a Broker's license.
I wonder how this 5% premium of the auction company to the buyer's loan fit into the guidelines of the lenders. They don't allow the loan officer charge a high commission or fees. Something is not right here.
They are licensed as auctioneers in many states. Is that what you checked? Auctioneers can deal with both buyers and sellers. Chase will eventually judge by results. Sometimes price is not the deciding factor.
Thanks for the info, Ed, but I do not agree the Auction Company should be allow to come into our part of the industry, using the MLS through us as a listing agent, use us their Visual Disclosure when the California Association of Realtors had stated that the company that is doing the direct transactions with the buyers is the one that is suppose to provide the visual condition of the property (can drag the listing company into court, if the auction company did something wrong). Most of the time, as the listing agent for the auction property, you do not know who are the buyers or buyers' agent are to make sure your own brokerage will be protected. Also, the auction company is not able to do a fiduciary duty to the buyers as a dual agency, when they come into our part of the industry. They had not follow the instruction of the Asset Manager. How I found out, is when the buyer had contacted me for some answers. They were frustrated of dealing with the staff people at the auction company (unlicensed individuals, whom I have checked - California requires DRE/BRE licensed agent to deal with buyers).
I don't know if you noticed, but using an auction company from one location and going to all states is really a monopoly. It also put a lot of Realtors into the poor house/unemployment office in every state, which means more debts that the tax payers have to deal with. ... Our industry has really gotten out of hand.
yes I agree, my realtors and others are really struggling to make ends meet. In my state we do not have a luxury market like others and now with lending law changes, it is going to get tougher.
One thing I have noticed also is Auction.com and other auction companies that are similar are apparently very good at convincing the seller to accepts a bid WAY below the REALTORS opinion and market value.
Which seller do you mean? ... The mortgage holder or the homeowner? .... Auction companies are in it for their 5 to 10% premium. For REOs and short sales, their job is to sell what is acceptable to the holder of the defaulted mortgage(s)/loan(s). ... Large sum of money up front rather than small amounts over time.
Usually auction company have you sign paperwork that you represent a particular client by name. Also, when your client sign up at their website for the bidding, they had a section for them to claim you as their buyer's agent for that 1% commission. ... No paperwork, no commission. The auction company do not tell you upfront. When I had a REO listing on their website, I checked out their website on what needs to be done. I personally gave both the buyer and their agent instructions what to do, so that the buyer understand there is a 5% premium on top of the offer price and that the buyer's agent need to be registered first.
This type of information our industry do not inform us about because we as Realtors are not into selling through auction in today's market. It is a whole different animal. Our DRE/BRE in all states are backward now. They do not expect one company going into all states and doing business from one location. This means Realtor's jobs maybe at risk when they do not use us locally or give us low commission of $500. I wonder how they figured out this amount. It seems to me they really don't have any experiences as a Realtor or understand why Realtors get the 6% commission. It is really way below minimum wage.
I believe companies who believe in cutting a Realtor's commission need to be educated on the 6% commission before they get their Corporate/Broker's DRE/BRE license. ... We really need people to be educated on why the 6% commission, so that we can survive as Realtors.
I agree with that!
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