Friday, September 17, 2010

New Listings
Click on the "New Listings" button to see an agent view profile of today's new listings.
MLS# 1606138 - 6141 Thornebury, Madison - 3 bed/2 bath - $229,900 - Nicole Charles


New Accepted Offers
No new accepted offers today.


Write it Right: Addendum D and Electronic Consent
Frustrated with all the confusion over electronic forms and emails? Come to Write it Right on Monday, Sept 20, from 10:30-11:30. This is the source of most of the contract errors we find. Also coming up next week on Wednesday is our lunch-n-learn Contracts 101 from 11:30-1:30 where we will go over the residential offer to purchase in detail.


Note there will be no Write it Right on Monday, Sept 27, due to the WRA convention at the Kalihari.


Open House Signs For Sale
5 Red KW Yard Signs: $20 each (easily changeable to your name/phone number for about $15 per sign)
9 Open House signs (small rectangular style that stick into the ground): $40 for all


First come, first serve!
Victoria Murray
vmurray@kw.com.


WRA Legal Hot Tip
Q. A broker in the office would like to show a property in the northern part of Wisconsin. The property is listed under a different MLS system. The listing broker will not disclose the MLS co-operating commission and insists that this transaction will only be compensated as a referral because the potential cooperating broker is not a member of their MLS. As a fellow REALTOR® is it his right to withhold this information and only work with the other broker as a referral because the two brokers are not members of the same MLS?


A. A Wisconsin real estate licensee may provide brokerage services, subject to competency, anywhere in Wisconsin. However, an MLS offer of cooperation and compensation is made only to members of same MLS (or MLSs that are linked). Per the standard WB listing contracts the listing broker agrees to cooperate with other brokers, but is not necessarily obligated to offer compensation. If the broker is not a member of the listing broker’s MLS, the broker can negotiate a compensation agreement with the listing broker before providing brokerage services.


Alternately, the broker may consider entering into a buyer agency agreement and receive commission from the buyer client. If there is a buyer agency, the buyer's broker may ethically suggest or recommend that the buyer ask the seller to pay some or all of the buyer's broker's fee pursuant to Article 16 of the Code of Ethics and NAR Case Interpretation #16-17. The buyer may condition the offer upon the seller paying the buyer's broker's fee on behalf of the buyer, as a seller's expense at closing. Wis. Admin. Code § RL 24.05(1) provides that the buyer's broker must have the prior written consent of the buyer and seller to collect the fee from the seller because the seller is not the buyer’s broker’s client. The WB-36 buyer’s agency agreement must also authorize the buyer’s broker to accept compensation from the owner/seller.