Can You Take a Property When a REALTOR® Has the Listing?

Short answer? YES! But there are a few nuances you’ll want to be aware of...

We get this question from our Associates all the time. “Can I co-list a house with a realtor?”

Well, first of all, let’s set one thing straight. You’re not a listing agent! You’re an investor. So the question really becomes, “Can I put the home under contract while the realtor has it?”

And in that case, there are a few things you need to know.

Cancelling a realtor contract

If you do want to put a home under contract while a realtor is listing it, you’ll need to either have the seller exclude you or they’ll need to cancel their contract with the realtor. It’s very important that they cancel the contract, not just withdraw from it.

This might seem like a difficult thing for the seller to communicate—after all, no one wants to be the bearer of bad news—but if the numbers are going to work out in their favor, why shouldn’t they do it? And the realtor should understand that they need to do what’s in their best financial interest.

The other option is to just wait until the listing expires. If it’s close to expiring, this is your easiest option.

Framing this to the seller

If you do find yourself in a situation like this where you either want to co-market a house with a realtor or get the realtor out of the equation so you can take it on yourself, there are a few simple strategies you can employ.

Generally, the numbers will be enough to sway the seller into going under contract with you on terms. But if that’s not enough, you can always remind them that you are getting buyers from an entirely different pool of people—not buyers who go through Realtors.

The realtor is looking for people who can buy a house with traditional means. Especially these days, that is a dwindling number.

We, on the other hand, are looking at people who are having trouble buying a house with traditional means. We’ve always said that 60 to 80% of people looking to buy a home can’t get financing—and that’s the group we’re marketing to. Nowadays, that number is even higher.

So one strategy we employ here is to say to the buyer, “Look, I’m going to market it to my list and I”ll also put it on a list-only service to get access to a whole pool of people that you normally wouldn’t be able to access.” Unless they’re having a crazy amount of traction on the home, this is going to be a pretty compelling offer. (And if they are having a crazy amount of traction, they probably aren’t going to be interested in a terms deal anyway!)

In most states, you can pay a flat fee to access a list-only service that will give you access to an even greater pool of people that are renting or can’t buy a house with traditional means.

All in all, that means your seller can rest easy knowing you will quickly have a tenant buyer in the home and they’ll be making more money in the long run by selling on terms.

So, can you co-market with a realtor? Sure, if you want to. But you don’t have to! If you find yourself dealing with a seller who is still invested in their realtor, try using these strategies.

Have you ever been in this situation before? What happened, and how did the realtor react? I’d love to hear about it in the comment below.