What kind of commission is due?

Question

A real estate agent I know was the listing agent for a building sold a year ago.  I was neither the buyer nor seller.  He called me for a different matter and I asked him for contact info of the current owner of that building.  He called the current owner and came back with a confidentiality and non-circumvention agreement for me to sign.  He's going to take a cut of this transaction which I guess will be priced into the sales price.  Did I make a stupid move by essentially adding a middleman?  Is it customary for him to take a lesser than normal commission since he hasn't done anything?

Charlie Fitzgerald · Answer

You brought him in...you engaged his services ...why would you not want to pay him?

Russell Brazil · Answer

I don't think it sounds like he hasn't done anything. Quite the opposite to me it sounds like he is brokering a real estate deal, putting buyer and seller together.  This is how things were done for 100 years before the Internet, and is how most commercial deals are done.

Stone Teran · Answer

We are at the very beginning.  I have signed nothing and we haven't discussed commission.  I don't want or need his help.  I have been presented with a Non-Circumvention agreement that I don't really want to sign.  I may call the seller and get his take before I proceed.

Stone Teran · Answer

Real estate agents connect buyers with sellers.  I already found the property.  The seller didn't have it listed.  My impromptu mention of the property is now going to cost me a $50k commission.  It's like mentioning a property I want to a wholeseller and he puts it under contract in front of me.  Right?

What kind of commission is due?

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