Marie
That's very thoughtful of you.

How did you arrive at the purchase price?
Are you counting on your agent to coordinate this transaction?
What happens if the appraisal does not support the purchase price?

Doesn't it seem odd that someone would sell their home to you, as opposed to listing it to get maximum exposure? How would you feel if you found out the owner was getting you to pay more than market value? Are you okay paying more than market value?

What happens if the home inspection reveals problems? Are you prepared to pay for the repair of the problems, or do you want someone to negotiate for you?

What happens if the property, after expenses are paid, fails to pay all of the debts owed? Is the owner "upside down"?

A Realtor's job is to take care of these issues, and look out for others that might come up. I would not be so sure about the fact that you are in fact going to be buying this house when all is said and done. You might want to discuss the entire picture with your Realtor.

In most brokerages the broker gets between 30-50% of the commission. That leaves an agent with 50-70%. Out of that Errors and Omissions insurance, combined with overhead, leaves an agent with only about 25-25% on average.

It may be that you think she will work "both sides" of the transaction for just being paid on "one side". Her broker will probably have to okay that. And she may not agree. What people do not understand is that we earn a living. So investing all the time and effort (meaning twice the work for half the pay) may not be the best use of our time. Particularly when we are not paid until escrow closes. That means that (based on my experience), there is a very good chance this deal will not go through. So you might be asking your agent in invest a lot of time and effort, and she may never be paid because the deal will never close.

How would you feel is I asked you to do your job, and then after 45 days you were not paid?

Marie,

This is a very nice thought and ont that probably would be appreciated greatly by the agent. Although impossible to account for her time and expenses we would agree that 1.5-2.5% of the sale price would be a nice compensation.

if your agent has been helping you for a period of time and actively providing you all informations that you need in your search and just happens that a for sale by owner comes along your agent then deserves 2.5-3% commission. I would still have this agent write the contract and guide you the process especially with home inspection, radon testing, negotiation and other matters that will help the process.