Don’t Cheat On Your Minneapolis Duplex Agent

One of my buyers cheated on me last week.

He called another agent about a property the agent had listed.

After he told me he’d see only me!

It could cause me not to get paid.

See, in real estate there’s something called “procuring cause”.  And it belongs to the agent who caused the buyer to purchase the duplex.

If my client called and asked me to help him see or write an offer on the property, I could have to split my commission with the listing agent. Why? Because that Realtor could argue that he was the one who was responsible for the purchase; having provided my client with the information that caused him to write an offer.

The same could be true if you asked another agent to show you a property, walked through an open house and spoke with the agent, or even called on a newspaper ad.

It doesn’t matter how long I’ve been working with that buyer, how many duplexes I’ve shown him, nothing. And I’d have to split my check because of that one phone call.

Of course, I do practice safe real estate and have a Exclusive Right to Represent Buyer contract in place. However, even that may not protect me entirely.

So my buyer and I had a talk; one in which I reminded him to always disclose to other agent that he’s working with another Realtor.

As part of our understanding, he can’t ask another agent to show him a property, call listing agents for information, and must always tell open house agents he’s working with me.

He understood. And since he’s a good guy, I forgave him.