March 14th, 2022 at 2:05 pm

Question: In last week’s Legal Tip, we discussed how you are working with buyers who are very interested in buying a home in a certain neighborhood that has virtually no properties for sale. You decide to embark on a “farming campaign” to find an unlisted home for your buyers to buy, and one of the homeowners expresses an interest in entering into a Single Party Compensation Agreement (SP) with you. However, because you don’t know whether the homeowner will sign your SP, what other document can you get signed to help make sure you get paid? 

Answer: Probably the best thing for you to do to help ensure that you will get paid is to have your buyers sign an exclusive buyer-broker agreement (C.A.R. Form BRE). Get that signed before you even embark on your farming campaign.

In other situations, it might be a little difficult to get your buyers to sign a buyer-broker agreement. But in this situation, it should be relatively easy to get your buyers to sign. After all, farming campaigns usually involve a massive and time-consuming undertaking on your part. Your buyers should understand that you are unwilling to do that unless they promise to pay you.

As a helpful tip, you can show your buyers that paragraph 3B of the BRE says  that, if you get paid by the seller or another source, that compensation you get will be deducted from whatever the buyers may owe you. So if, for example, the buyers agree to pay you 2.5% in the BRE, and you later get the seller to pay you 2.5% under an SP, the buyers will owe you nothing.

Stay Tuned Next Week: Transactions involving an SP have become more prevalent in the current housing market, given the low listing inventory and the strong demand from prospective buyers. Stay tuned next week for some more ins and outs on using an SP.

Copyright© 2022 Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices California Properties (BHHSCP). All rights reserved. Any unauthorized reproduction or use of this material is strictly prohibited. This information is believed to be accurate as of March 14, 2022. It is not intended as a substitute for legal advice in individual situations, and is not intended to nor does it create a standard of care for real estate professionals. Written by Stella Ling, Esq.

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