I think the part of the confusion is we thought you were representing yourself in this transaction. If the listing agent is also serving as your agent (buyer's agent) then the listing agent would be paid both sides of the commission.
If the listiing agent is serving as your agent you should have signed a few forms stating what her responsibilities are to you and she should have prepared the contract you signed and submitted for the seller to consider.
Certainly the listing agent may prefer that the bank accepts an offer that she has both sides on; but the seller (asset manager representing the bank) makes this decision not the realtor. We thought you were representing yourself, which in general is a lot more work for the listing realtor in terms of moving the contract to close with title, etc.
They will act quickly if the first offer they counter to does not agree to their terms and move on to the next offer. They are not required to ask for a "highest and best offer" from everyone. In bank owned sales the bank calls the shots, the buyer accepts or they move on for the most part.

When I escalated my price and put in a revised offer I asked her to be my dual agent on the phone. She/he said technically she/he is the banks representative and had to serve them first. So I pretty much assumed that was an indirect way of saying no.

No agreement was signed between me and the agent. I asked them what I in general could do to make my offer more appealing and she told me generic stuff that most people would know like:
increase price
waive inspection
waive appraisal
increase earnest money
close as soon as possible.

Things I was already considering anyways.

Again thanks for the help. I know everyone is volunteering here! :)

I've increased my earnest money in the counter offer and we'll see what the bank says.

You are non represented in this transaction at this point. I am not sure why the listing agent would not represent you, unless like previous responses she/he doesn't want to bother with dealing with both sides of the sale. I guess some listing realtors feel this way..its not worth the commission on both sides to them if they have to do the work on both sides.

You need a very agressive realtor to represent you and push your offer. As others has said this listing realtor is not interested in a deal with an unrepresented buyer cause she knows she will have to do the work the bueyr's agent usually does, if she wouldn't do that for an additional commission, she surely wont do that for free..

Get a knowledgable Realtor, honestly. Interview a few and hire somebody that will go to bat for you!!!

50% down, wow. I think they accidentally add a zero behind. If I was you, I would walk away of the transaction and send send the asset manager to the doctor.

Happy ending to the story. Bank agreeded to my counter offer and I'll be meeting with the listing agent tomorrow to finish paper work. Thanks for everyone's advice! If you are ever in Charlotte, North Carolina, Look me up on www.couchsurfing.com and I'll take you out for a drink. I'm the only photographer who is verified so that will be an easy way for anyone to find me if they are interested.

Forgot to mention the paper work I got specifically says Selling agent comission is 3% OR $1250
listing comision is 3% or $1250
Im assuming that is a minimum of $1250?

So the previous posts saying that is not how comissions would be split were wrong.

As a buyer, you shouldn't even be concerned about the commission.

Regarding commision splits, just for your information; good for the seller if they are offering a straight 3% to the listing agent. However, although the contract you may have seen reads in this way there is usually a referral fee from the 3% of for example, 1% back to the asset management company that you would not see on a purchase contract. In many cases there are additional fees also deducted from the listing side that would also not be shown in a purchase contract. But again, good for the listing agent if this is not the case.
Congrats on the deal!

Curious Cat, I'm a curious person, I like to know these sorts of things. I'm sure you can relate :)
Stew thanks for the clarification.

Just wondering...how much do you make Charlotte? Put it in writing and scan it, post it, and fax it around so we can all talk about whether or not you're worth it. We might be able to suggest some ways for your boss to save money by doing some of the work you do. Your job is not rocket science after all. I saw on CNN you get paid too much.

None of my business you say. I was just curious...my bad, you're right I'll stuff a sock in it.

If you hire me for a job I'd be glad to let you know how much I am worth. I am good at what I do and I'd also tell you how much the profit margin is for my industry. Hiding the information and acting defensively just turns off customers. Sorry but what you wrote is bad Karma.

In an attempt to make a point I just behaved like you (and other non sellers who are so concerned what my commission is) and butt in to your private business. I don't really want to know what you make. I was being sarcastic. If karma is implememnted in the universe, then I have some sarcasm headed my way. I'll take it when it comes.

Of course it is a buyer's business. What if your comission was 50%? That would force the price of the home up because you are taking such a big piece of the pie. It is also our business because we are paying you. We pay the seller and the seller pays you. No buyer = no comission for you.

Buyers are obviously concerned with comission becuase it is directly related to selling price. Which is what they pay for.

Some buyers even seek out FSBO homes to avoid paying extra comission fees. Sellers try to do FSBO to avoid paying comissions. If the comission was of no concern than these strategies would be pointless.

And by the way, you've got the whole chicken and the egg thing mixed up. People care what they have to pay out of their pockets, which isrelated to what you get paid in comissions. Their first thought is about themselves, not your paycheck.

And its not a big secret what realtors make. I guessed it at the beginning of this post and the paper work confirmed exactly what I guessed.

The buyer has no contractractual obligation with the listing agent. The seller does. The commission is not of any concern to the buyer unless he is nosey.


Using your line of reasoning, I could walk into a delly and ask to see owner to open up the books to justify the price of a sandwich. While I am at it, I could go to the baker and do the same since he made the bread, and the farmer who grew the tomatos, the rancher that raised the livestock, the delivery man that brought the product to the store. Is it my business because I am buying the sandwich. No. I can decide to purchase or not to purchase the sandwich. But I cannot question the store owner about costs without being accused of being nosey.

selling is a game.
no one cares if they are paying $4 or $5 for a sandwich.

People do care if they are buying a car or a boat or a home about how the pie is split up and they ask those types of questions all the time and it is called negotiating. Why do you feel the need to dictate what knowledge can or can't be negotiated? Are you threatened cause I just "beat out" other buyers who supposedly had professional realators helping them while I just read some junk off the net? Who cares!

Realators ask nosy questions all the time. They want to know if I'm married, what I do, what kind of car I drive, how long I've been in the area, etc. I wasn't born last night, that kind of info helps them negoiate for or against me. I'd do the same thing if I were a realtor. So why do you think your industry can ask all kinds of nosy questions yet I can't ask any?