Is it too Late?

WKLBFCI · December 2011

Hi, everyone on here seems to offer great advice, so I would appreciate everyone's options.

My husband and I are looking to buy our first home. We have been using a realtor who I know through work. She's my coworker's wife. We haven't been that happy with her. She's kind of flakey and takes forever to get back to us.

We found a house this past weekend that we really like and think we would like to put an offer in on it. Since she is who showed it to us are we are obligated to put a bid on it through her or can we find another realtor?

Thanks for you advice!

srs5624 · December 2011

This varies by state.

In my state (PA), you can pretty much do whatever you want. No realtor would bat an eye if you called to put an offer after another realtor showed you the house. You're free to switch realtors whenever you want (unless you're selling, then there's usually a contract length that must be fulfilled before you can switch).

But, there are states where trying to switch realtors after they've shown you a house would put you in a legal bind. You'll have to look up the rules in your state.

smilygrl17 · December 2011

If you find another realtor then they need to show you the house to be able to put a bid thru them. Also, since you were already working with another realtor, they may not want to work with you since realtor work ethic discourages it.

car_ramrod · December 2011

Ditto the PP who said it depends on the laws of that state. In some states if the realtor show you the property they are entitled to the commission from the sale. Also have you signed any sort of agreement with the realtor? This would also prevent you from switching.

WKLBFCI · December 2011

We have not signed anything with her. I will check state laws. Thanks for the help!

vanillacourage · December 2011

Since she showed you the house AND is a coworker's wife (i.e. this could get messy and have repercussions for you at work) then I'd need a better reason than "she's kind of flaky" to switch. It would be different if you were still house-hunting and wanted to use someone else to keep looking at houses, but since you already know what house you want and she was the one that found it for you, I'd tread carefully.

toothpastechica · December 2011

We switched realtors when we were hunting, but if you already know what house you want, then thats kind of dicey. However, our new realtor took us back to houses we had already seen, and because of price reductions etc, they are not considered to be "the same" as they were and he assured us that it was not unethical. He did not show us houses that we had already seen if he didnt think we could get a way different price on it then the first time we had seen it. I think shes flakey is a perfectly acceptable reason to switch, but i would explain the situation to any new person you are looking at and ask thier honest opinion on the situation. Also depending what broker she works for, maybe tehres another realtor you could be transferred to within the same company, that tends to look a bit better then 'jumping ship' if you explain to the company (remax etc) why you are wanting to switch. However as pp mentioned, it may have ramifications at work which is what i would worry about the most.

Is it too Late?

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