I hear your concern but let me first say that I have never had a situation where a seller including a for sale by owner refused to pay my commission when I brought them a buyer. With that being said in your question you stated that you would never purchase real estate without an agent again. That alone shows me that you understand the benefits that an agent brings to the table. If your agent shows you the perfect property and the seller refuses to pay the commission outlined in the agreement does your agent not deserve to be paid for bringing you to your dream property, negotiating the best deal possible, and walking you to the closing table? In the rare occassion that a seller would refuse to pay your agents commission, perhaps your agent would be willing to negotiate a different amount to ease your mind. Just be sure not to ask your agent to do anything you would not want someone to ask you to do. Goes back to the Golden Rule of doing unto others as you would have them do unto you. Do you want to do your job and not get paid your full paycheck?

Happy Thanksgiving and Happy House Hunting!

It is a very common part of the contract. Usually, the only time this would be a factor is if you found a for sale by owner house the you wanted and the seller was not willing to pay the 3% fee. The agent needs to be paid for their time and expertise. Other wise if it is not a for sale by owner, the agent can tell you if the seller is paying his fee. In Texas it is rare that a seller will not pay the buying agents fee.

Yep, its normal but rare that any seller wouldn;t pay the fee. It does happen more often than not...

This is normal. You should be willing to pay the buyer's agent for their time. If your purchase a listed property the amount of compensation will be known by the agent and you can discuss that with them so that you make the appropriate offer. I would guess in most listed property sitatuations that they are listed with a 3% commission to the buyer's broker, but commissions are negotiable and it could be listed as more or less. If it is less than 3% you should know this as if you sign the buyers representation agreeement you would be obligated to pay the broker the difference. If you pursue a FSBO there may be no commission offered to the buyers agent from the seller, but again you should know this when you make the offer, then you can structure the offer appropriately. Your agent should explain all of these options to you when you sign the agreement. Occasionally now you may see bank owned properties offering 2.5 or 2 or something like that. When you right the offer, if you don't want to pay cash from your side, just have your agent add the difference to the closing costs that the seller would need to pay. I hope this answers your question.

I have not run into a situation where a seller refused to pay the commission to me for representing the buyer.
Obviously if it is listed they have to offer a co op% or (pay the buyers agent) The only circumstance that I can imagine would be a hard headed FSBO that refused to pay a Realtor. I try to build a relationship with the buyer and assume that the lack of payment from the seller to me would just be reflected in the offer price.

Russ,

Typically, the Buyer's agent does all the work for the buyer and is paid by the Seller. When you are looking at properties, you should know ahead of time whether the Seller is offering to pay the commission-it's stated in the Multiple Listing Service. If it is a For Sale By Owner, have your agent ask them first if they cooperate with Realtors. If not, then you make the call if you still want to see the property or not. If you choose to, and you decide to purchase that one, you will be the one paying your Realtor's commission. It is part of the Buyer's Representative Agreement as a way of the Buyer's agent being protected that after all their work, and the deal closes, they will get paid.

Hope that helps,
Marcia

How much money are you talking about? At the end of the day, you want to sell the property. For full service commission the seller could pay 4 to 6%.
If you still get the money you oriiginally wanted, you may want to consider paying the 6%, give up some money to make sure you sell.
Before you do that, go back to your sellers agent and talk to them about what they normally pay other agents for a commission, and work off from there.

What you are referring to is a buyer's agency contract. If you are not comfortable signing, find another agent or try to negotiate a lower commission.
You are correct in your understanding that you will pay if your buyer's agent cannot collect the fee from the listing agency.