Property seller not obligated to pay agent

Q: A real estate agent approached us, saying that our tenants want to buy the house they are renting from us. We are open to the idea if the price is right, but the agent wants us to pay her commission. Do we have to? If not, should we?

A: If you did not agree to pay the real estate agent, then you are not obligated to do so.

Agents, like most other workers, get paid when some- one hires them to do a ser- vice, such as finding a buyer for their house. In simple terms, an agent is a matchmaker between a buyer and a seller. While it is custom- ary for the seller to pay the agent’s commission, some- times the buyer will pay it instead. It all depends on what is voluntarily agreed to by the people involved. In fact, there are plenty of so-called buyer’s agents out there who are hired and com- pensated by the buyer.

In the typical home sale for a property on the Multi-

ple Listing Service, the seller has hired an agentand agreed to pay a commission, usually 6 percent. That listing agent then offers half of the commission to any other agent who brings a buyer. But just

because this is the most common way of doing things does not mean it is the only way.

Sometimes a buyer will agree to hire and pay a real estate agent, usually to find a property that is not listed on the MLS. Because the seller does not have an agent that he or she agreed to pay, there will be no listing commission to split, and the buyer has to pay the agent directly.

In your case, the buyer hired an agent, so it’s the buyer’s responsibility to pay. But if you feel that you will get better service and a smoother closing by paying the agent’s commission, go for it. Gary M. Singer is a Florida attorney and board-certified as an expert in real estate law by the Florida Bar. He is the chairman of the Real Estate Section of the Broward County Bar Association and is a co-host of the weekly radio show Legal News and Review.