I have yet to come across an attorney that could negotiate anything. They are trained to litigate and that is their goal.

My advice to you is that you tell the FSBO seller that you will move forward with purchasing their home if they are willing to pay your agent 3% to represent you. You don't want your agent representing the seller. You should be represented when it comes to the FSBO. The seller will most likely agree if they want to sell their home right now. Then you will also have representation on your side too.

with respect to money, why is this a moral dilemma for you on the buying side? you are the buyer and potential employer. if this were your business, would you offer to pay a prospective employee (or contractor) that had no employment agreement with you and had performed no work for you? there's no moral or legal issue to consider with no agreement in place.

if you are considering employing an agent to represent you in the purchase of the new home, why not hire a DIFFERENT agent for that transaction? wouldn't that be more fair and ethical?

Update: I proposed and we agreed upon a flat fee of $2000 (payable upon close) for my agent to represent me in the purchase of this home. This is under 1% of the value of the house and is a good deal for me. The agent gets this work and is working to sell my existing home (for which her agency will get the standard 6%). She's happy, I'm happy. The offer has been made on the new house and the owners have until 4PM tomorrow (Sunday) to respond.

I would think that the agent would not be representing the fsbo but would asssit them as a transaction broker and would represent the buyer. I would also like to point out that finding a buyer a home is the just the beginning of what we do. As you pointed out, the fsbo has done this before and is very comfortable selling themselves. Lets just hope for your sake that the only reason they don't want to pay an agent is because of the money. Also, please realize that there is more to that paperwork than filling in the blanks. A good agent is worth their weight in gold when it comes to that paperwork. How well you are protected in the buying process depends on how well that paperwork is written. Yes, you can have an attorney review it or even write it, but unless you get an attorney who has a daily working knowledge of writing purchase agreements and who has personally seen this home, something may still be missed. While sometimes property is bought and sold easily without a real estate agent, I would not recommend it. As I said earlier, the fee the agent is being paid is not only for the paperwork, but for the experience she brings to your contract and purchase. JMO

I would allow your agent to writ up an offer that requiries the seller to pay a substantial amount of your closing costs and then you compensate your agent from the funds she was able to gain for you to go against your closing costs. This may just fix the issue with the sellers not wanting to pay the agents commision and your agent will get a chance to earn her commision. If she is unable to pull it off then she did not deserve the commision in the first place.

Most FSBOs offer compensation to a buyer's agent. Even then, many FSBOs are trouble. You may think that's 'real estate scare tactics.' But it's true. FSBOs are often unpredictable, unknowledgable about real estate transactions, and out to pinch every dime from you. In fact, a FSBO seller can be just about as dangerous as a really bad agent. Watch out!

I have to note one other comment you made, BTW. You said your agent would get 3% for 'filing a little paperwork.' Now, I understand that some deals go very smoothly and it may appear to those involved that all that was done was 'filing a little paperwork.' But the truth is most real estate deals have complexities involving the financing, the inspections, the release of contingencies, the option period, the appraisal, the survey, and the title work. In addition tight coordination is required between buyer and seller to make sure there are no 'surprises' on closing day. So what appears a smooth and transparent transfer to the clients actually was the result of quite a bit of overtime on the part of the agent.

I make very clear in to my clients the years of experience and expertise that I have... and that's why my services are so valuable to them. Perhaps your agent doesn't have that experience. Or perhaps she's failed to communicate it to you.

Good luck!