That sounds illegal…but what do I know…the’re alot of those kind of things going on right now.

I would consider that highly unethical, (that is just me)…

Commissions are negotiable in the state of California. There is no minimum or maximum. These people should not only find a new buyers agent, they should call the broker who employs this agent and complain to him.

SD Realtor

what exactly is a broker? i was under the impression that agents were pretty much self contained…

For the original poster,
It is definitely unethical and not a very smart practice. It would be illegal if the agent was in collusion with a seller or broker who is offering a higher commission on specific properties.I really don’t understand an agents motivation to put such a condition on a buyer. I would definitely fire the person and perhaps make an inquiry to the local board.

Drunkle, to answer your question,which may in fact be rhetorical or faceatious one, a broker runs an office and all agents must hang their licenses under a broker. Brokers have supervisory obligations and in fact the broker is often the target of law suits when the agents do bad or dumb things. The last time I worked with an agent who was causing trouble I called his broker and asked him to get the agent out of the picture. The transaction was finished with the broker and a very qualified transaction coordinator. We never dealt with the chump agent again.
Yes SD R, he was from yor favorite brand name office, bringing me a buyer.

A San Diego REALTOR came to my mother in law’s door and told her he would not bring any buyers to her property whilst it was for sale through the discount agent “I Pay One”. He went on to say that she should list with him instead, and if she did, he would bring buyers and get top dollar for the house. (I guess he bragged about how he likes to overprice his properties to include the commission so it doesnt cost the buyer anything)

Nice work, trying to scare a little old lady into giving him an extra 10-15k.. what a slimeball!

Happily, the house was sold for an agreeable price in the end and the REALTORs got a minimal slice.

Back to the OP…. It’s totally unethical, but they are REALTORs, what else would you expect?

rusty:

no, it was an honest q… forums are making me lazy, cant even bother to wiki before posting… thanks for the answer. next q: why are they called brokers? wouldn’t RE transaction supervisor, head cheese, boss man or something more descriptive be… more descriptive… as it is, the broker just makes you broke…

why are they called brokers?
they “broker” the deal with the help from agents sometimes.I will have to Wiki that myself. I often mis-spell the word as “Borker” and feel like leaving it that way.