I have now spoken to the seller, and she has not yet signed a contract with an agent. Was planning to do so Wednesday.

What's the language of your buyer's agent contract?

Do I have a copy? No. Can I find a copy on the agency's website? No. SIGH AT SELF.

(I think I must have accidentally gotten rid of my copy when I got rid of the copies of the offer we made that was not accepted due to the sellers working with another offer. Ooh! Maybe it is sitting in the unshredded shredder pile!)

Dang, good luck, flea. Is $X-30 the 6%? Or more? Maybe you could work something out Ben with the agents? Also, even if you do it without agents you'll still probably need some lawyering.

Okay, found the unshredded paperwork and no contract there. Honestly, I am sort of unsure if I even signed a contract with the agent. Why do they let me call myself a grownup? This is probably a sign that we should use an agent.

Flea, you can still use your agent if you want to pay his/her half of the commission. I've done that and it worked fine. The agent gets to do all the paperwork in order to earn the commission, which was more than worth it to me.

There is a buttload of paperwork, especially for the buyer.

Yeah, I was actually thinking that. Even paying our agent that would be a good deal for us, and honestly, I don't think we have the energy for the level of diligence that a private purchase would require.

Using your agent would clear you of all ethical/legal issue wrestling.

I insisted on using an agent because I didn't want to get stuck with the paperwork!