Annoyed: Making an offer on a condo

[sheehs1]

Hi all. Am very annoyed with the real estate process. This past week-end, my husband and I found a condo we were willing to make an offer on.

Isn't it odd that it is not until we attempt to make an offer that the agent tells me, "I spoke with the other agent and she said there is another offer coming in and it too is for cash".

Background. Last summer we had the same thing happen on a piece of property in a different resort area. I can honestly say I felt I was lied to by this agent. I was going to make an offer and her words were, "there is another buyer with a cash offer" and his offer is probably going to be "x". Lots of drama, lots of emotion and I got caught up in it, allowing her to push me to a full price cash offer, 30 day close situation. Long story short, 2 weeks later, I canceled the contract for reasons that came out of the various inspections.

That other buyer never appeared and I dare say there was never another buyer He just went "poof"!!! In fact, the place never sold and the owner has taken it off the market. Hence my gut feeling that I was lied to.

There ought to be some law to protect consumers from real estate agents playing a game to drive up the price and their commissions. Meaning, they should provide "some" sort of proof that there is actually another offer. Otherwise, how can consumers protect themselves from these shennanigans that can never be proven or disproven?

I am not saying all agents do this. In fact I am sure they don't. But I am finding it very prevalent in resort areas.

My response to the agent on this offer was "isn't it funny, I never hear that until I'm making an offer"...and "I'm not getting into a bidding war".....

It is enough to make me want to pull my offer......grrrrrrrr.....
And I still might since it hasn't been submitted yet....

 

[ChiliPepr]

In the first case, that offer may have gone away just like yours did because of the inspection. A seller/realtor is required to disclose any faults found in an inspection. So, let's say your inspector found termites and you backed out, even if the home-owner cleaned up any evidence of the termites, they are required to inform the next buyer that they had them.

Buying real estate is never easy. If you are comfortable with your offer and do not want raise it, just let it be... if there is a higher offer they will win, if yours is higher, you will.

A realtor will also lose thier license if it is discovered they lie to you about another offer. What you can also do is only make your offer for 24 hours, force the seller into saying yes or no quickly.

 

[Meadbh]

All's fair in love, war and marketing. Do not allow your emotions to take over. Offer what you think the condo is worth, period, and let the chips fall where they may.

 

[eytonxav]

Perhaps, you could request to see a copy of the other so-called competing offer.

I know many years ago, DW and I lost out to a competing offer that did turn out to be legit and it was a disappointing experience. While there are always unscupulous types out there, there are many that do have a sense of ethics.

 

[rbmrtn]

That's what they do. They work on commision and usually for the seller, so the more they talk you into paying the more they make.

You may want to look into a buyers agent, if you haven't already , that represents the buyer in the process.

Is 'your' agent really working for you? (Page 1 of 2)

 

[ChiliPepr]

That's what they do. They work on commision and usually for the seller, so the more they talk you into paying the more they make.http://www.bankrate.com/brm/news/real-estate/agency1.asp

Actually, there has been studies that a realtor would rather sell your house than sell it at the best price. It was in the book "Freakonomics" written by Stephen Dubner and Steven Levitt.

It basically comes down to the fact that and extra $10k selling a house usually nets the selling realtor about $125 (5% commission split between selling and buying agency and each agency splits 50% with realtor, so on a 5% commision the selling broker makes (5%/4) or 1.25%*$10k=$125)

A selling realtor would rather have you take an offer today for $10k less, than have to work for longer for $125.

 

[braumeister]

We had a most interesting situation when selling our last house. There were several bids which we declined, then we got a bid for exactly our asking price from a young couple who told us they were really going to be stretched to get the loan but loved the house so much they were going for it.

We said OK and told them we would get our agreement to them in the mail, through our agent.

As luck would have it, another offer came through a few hours later from someone 2,000 miles away. He had seen our house pictures on the internet and also fell in love with it, so he was making his offer sight unseen, for more than ten percent above our asking price. We were skeptical, but a little online research showed that he had in fact grown up in our area and still had a number of relatives here, so it was most likely legit.

We had serious misgivings about it (the ethics of voiding our verbal acceptance of the first offer), so we discussed it with our agent. She said there was no problem at all, since an offer is not legally accepted until it is in writing, delivered to the buyer.

We went with the out-of-state offer, and our agent told us that the young couple actually seemed relieved that they wouldn't have to come up with such a big mortgage after all. In the end, everything worked out great, but it was a trying couple of days.

 

[Dimsumkid]

I think this is a common strategy to motivate a potential buyer to maximize the offer. I've bought 2 homes ever. First house, the agent didn't want to show me the house because she wouldn't get both sides of the commission, so she found another buyer, Several weeks later, their financing fell thru (this was the 4th time and offer fell thru for financial issues) and I was finally allowed to see the house, I made a formal offer and got the house. My current house we made an offer, during negotiations (2 offer/counter offers we made at this point), the selling agent announced there was another buyer/offer coming. We did nothing and waited a few days, seller came back to the negotations as no offer ever came in. We got the house.

Try not to fall in love with the place, be willing to walk away and have a 2nd and 3rd choice of a place in mind.

 

[Accidental Retiree]

All's fair in love, war and marketing. Do not allow your emotions to take over. Offer what you think the condo is worth, period, and let the chips fall where they may.

+1

 

[sheehs1]

In the first case, that offer may have gone away just like yours did because of the inspection. A seller/realtor is required to disclose any faults found in an inspection. So, let's say your inspector found termites and you backed out, even if the home-owner cleaned up any evidence of the termites, they are required to inform the next buyer that they had them.

Buying real estate is never easy. If you are comfortable with your offer and do not want raise it, just let it be... if there is a higher offer they will win, if yours is higher, you will.

A realtor will also lose thier license if it is discovered they lie to you about another offer. What you can also do is only make your offer for 24 hours, force the seller into saying yes or no quickly.

No....the other buyer never materialized. I asked my agent what happened and she said , "she didn't know". I asked her what happened to the other buyer and she said, "she didn't know". Her office had the listing for this property. Really
We had another situation the summer before with this same agent. The property needed a lot of work, some of it structural. Owner would not come down to my price even after getting contractors in there for pricing. I canceled that one due to the work involved ...from a distance and right before a hurricane nailed it. During one visit she left her card for the the guy renting. That guy bought it at my price...so while I was her client on said property she was scoping out other potential buyers at the same time.
The agent also used ALL of the inspections during my dealings to get that deal done. How do I know? Oh...I sort of said, "Isn't it interesting that the one that bought it got to take advantage of all the research, moisture, mold, structural inspections and contractor quotes that I paid for?" Her response? "yes".

All's fair in love and war I suppose. The price one pays to ferret out real estate.

 

[sheehs1]

All's fair in love, war and marketing. Do not allow your emotions to take over. Offer what you think the condo is worth, period, and let the chips fall where they may.

Absolutely agree with this. You are so right!

 

[sheehs1]

Perhaps, you could request to see a copy of the other so-called competing offer.

I know many years ago, DW and I lost out to a competing offer that did turn out to be legit and it was a disappointing experience. While there are always unscupulous types out there, there are many that do have a sense of ethics.

I have sort of asked for this before and am told they are bound by privacy issues for the other buyer. I understand this. It just seems there is no way to protect oneself from perhaps those agents that really do want to jack up the price. Whose to say what is legit and what is not. No one would ever really know. It seems, even the agents don't really trust one another when it comes down to "offer making".

 

[sheehs1]

That's what they do. They work on commision and usually for the seller, so the more they talk you into paying the more they make.

You may want to look into a buyers agent, if you haven't already , that represents the buyer in the process.

Is 'your' agent really working for you? (Page 1 of 2)

That's what I thought I had but in reality probably did not.

 

[sheehs1]

I think this is a common strategy to motivate a potential buyer to maximize the offer.
Try not to fall in love with the place, be willing to walk away and have a 2nd and 3rd choice of a place in mind.

I think you are right, that it is a common strategy and that is why it irritates me. I upped my offer so it would be taken seriously, it was where I was prepared to go during negotiations but that leaves me no wiggle room. Or I guess I should say, I don't want it above the offer price. It's a thumbs up or down offer at this point.

 

[sheehs1]

Actually, there has been studies that a realtor would rather sell your house than sell it at the best price. It was in the book "Freakonomics" written by Stephen Dubner and Steven Levitt.

It basically comes down to the fact that and extra $10k selling a house usually nets the selling realtor about $125 (5% commission split between selling and buying agency and each agency splits 50% with realtor, so on a 5% commision the selling broker makes (5%/4) or 1.25%*$10k=$125)

A selling realtor would rather have you take an offer today for $10k less, than have to work for longer for $125.

This may be true for some areas but it has not been my experience in resort areas. The resort areas have potentially more competing buyers....and the agents really do play the buyers off of one another. Some of that is probably legit but I also wonder how much of it isn't.

Just a couple of months ago, this same current agent called me on a house I had seen and passed up. She just wanted to tell me an offer had been made with a competing agent and "wanted to see" if I wanted to make an offer".
So with this I think they work hard to get buyers to compete against one another knowing full well they have a better chance of starting a bidding war. There was absolutely no other reason for her phone call to me.
I declined her offer just like I had decline to put an offer on it the first time I saw it.

 

[haha]

No....the other buyer never materialized. I asked my agent what happened and she said , "she didn't know". I asked her what happened to the other buyer and she said, "she didn't know". Her office had the listing for this property. Really
We had another situation the summer before with this same agent. The property needed a lot of work, some of it structural. Owner would not come down to my price even after getting contractors in there for pricing. I canceled that one due to the work involved ...from a distance and right before a hurricane nailed it. During one visit she left her card for the the guy renting. That guy bought it at my price...so while I was her client on said property she was scoping out other potential buyers at the same time.
The agent also used ALL of the inspections during my dealings to get that deal done. How do I know? Oh...I sort of said, "Isn't it interesting that the one that bought it got to take advantage of all the research, moisture, mold, structural inspections and contractor quotes that I paid for?" Her response? "yes".

All's fair in love and war I suppose. The price one pays to ferret out real estate.

If I lived in the interior, where property prices are highly unlikely to run away, I would not buy. IMO, renting is a much safer option. Buying property is for most of very stressful ans we do only sporadically, and often under hurried conditions. Where you may get priced out of where you really want to spend your life, it is different. ( I am not sure what sort of market you are looking at.)

Ha

 

[rodi]

No....the other buyer never materialized. I asked my agent what happened and she said , "she didn't know". I asked her what happened to the other buyer and she said, "she didn't know". Her office had the listing for this property. Really
We had another situation the summer before with this same agent. The property needed a lot of work, some of it structural. Owner would not come down to my price even after getting contractors in there for pricing. I canceled that one due to the work involved ...from a distance and right before a hurricane nailed it. During one visit she left her card for the the guy renting. That guy bought it at my price...so while I was her client on said property she was scoping out other potential buyers at the same time.
The agent also used ALL of the inspections during my dealings to get that deal done. How do I know? Oh...I sort of said, "Isn't it interesting that the one that bought it got to take advantage of all the research, moisture, mold, structural inspections and contractor quotes that I paid for?" Her response? "yes".

All's fair in love and war I suppose. The price one pays to ferret out real estate.

PLEASE tell my you are no longer using this agent. She clearly isn't acting in your best interests.

 

[sheehs1]

If I lived in the interior, where property prices are highly unlikely to run away, I would not buy. IMO, renting is a much safer option. Buying property is for most of very stressful ans we do only sporadically, and often under hurried conditions. Where you may get priced out of where you really want to spend your life, it is different. ( I am not sure what sort of market you are looking at.)

Ha

You are right. On the interior, prices are not going to run away. That is particularly true of where our home is. Also true is we have no good restaurants or even a movie theatre anymore. The theatre shut down after a large corporation moved out of the area. I love our small town but want to enhance the quality of our life with this purchase.

This is on the water (bay) about an hour and 30 minutes away from our main home. This purchase is/was to give us quick access to an area with a condo on the water with access to far better restaurants and things to do that our home area does not provide.

We can not move our primary home as my husbands business is about 45 minutes in the other direction, across the line in another state. If we did, he would be 2 1/2 hours away from home. Maybe not the worst thing. Also when we retire, we could sell the primary home and live in this condo.

 

[RunningBum]

Actually, there has been studies that a realtor would rather sell your house than sell it at the best price. It was in the book "Freakonomics" written by Stephen Dubner and Steven Levitt.

It basically comes down to the fact that and extra $10k selling a house usually nets the selling realtor about $125 (5% commission split between selling and buying agency and each agency splits 50% with realtor, so on a 5% commision the selling broker makes (5%/4) or 1.25%*$10k=$125)

A selling realtor would rather have you take an offer today for $10k less, than have to work for longer for $125.

That's true, but the higher the offer you bring, the more likely the seller is to accept it or at least the negotiation period will be shorter and less likely to fall through.

 

[sheehs1]

PLEASE tell my you are no longer using this agent. She clearly isn't acting in your best interests.

Done with her rodi. Absolutely done with her.

I think she knows it as I have not heard from her and have stopped getting listing updates from her as well.

 

[Sarah in SC]

Maybe the thing to do is get a buyer's agent in that community, and have she/he do the legwork on finding you potential places, and deal with the listing agent. I really like having a buyer's agent. We did that for our last home purchase, and our last boat purchase.

 

[Texas Proud]

A few comments that might or might not be valid where you live...

In Texas, all agents 'work' for the seller... even is you talk to one and they show you a lot of properties, they still legaly work for the seller...

About putting a card down when you see a property... I was told that it was common practice so the homeowner knew that people had been inside the house... I would not say the RE agent was trolling for the guy renting... but who knows...

As for other offers.... sometimes there are other offers, but there are conditions etc. that might not materialize.... IOW, some base it on them getting financing.... and the RE agent thinks might not happen...

Another thing that I have heard about (this from watch Selling NY) is that the agent will leave the listing up even after it is sold!! When someone sees it online they call the agent and they will say 'there is an offer on it, but I can show you something else' and snag a new client....


I agree that you should not care about what you hear... it should not make a difference to you in what you think the property is worth and how you bid.... if there is another bid and they are higher than you, so be it... there is more RE to be had...


There is one comment I can remember when I bought my first house... we were at closing and the RE agent lied to the closer... I said I would not sign some paperwork until things were done right... I was told that the contractor that was hired (paid for by the seller) had the right to 'fix' the problem.... When I told the closing lady if she would work with someone who lied to her... she said "I do it everyday".....

 

[sheehs1]

Maybe the thing to do is get a buyer's agent in that community, and have she/he do the legwork on finding you potential places, and deal with the listing agent. I really like having a buyer's agent. We did that for our last home purchase, and our last boat purchase.

If this falls thru which it might, that is exactly what I will do Sarah!

 

[Dimsumkid]

I think you are right, that it is a common strategy and that is why it irritates me. I upped my offer so it would be taken seriously, it was where I was prepared to go during negotiations but that leaves me no wiggle room. Or I guess I should say, I don't want it above the offer price. It's a thumbs up or down offer at this point.

Even though I had a buying agent, my agent kept asking me to put in an offer, no matter how low (and it was low). If anything, this made us delay putting in our offer. It seems like you let the "other offer" idea push you to make a higher offer. I would argue that upping your offer doesn't make it any more serious that any other number you chose. ANY offer is serious when it comes to real estate. I wouldn't let anyone pressure you into changing the offer you originally intended. After all, this is probably the most expensive purchase you'll make in your lifetime.

 

[sheehs1]

A few comments that might or might not be valid where you live...

In Texas, all agents 'work' for the seller... even is you talk to one and they show you a lot of properties, they still legaly work for the seller...

About putting a card down when you see a property... I was told that it was common practice so the homeowner knew that people had been inside the house... I would not say the RE agent was trolling for the guy renting... but who knows...

As for other offers.... sometimes there are other offers, but there are conditions etc. that might not materialize.... IOW, some base it on them getting financing.... and the RE agent thinks might not happen...

Another thing that I have heard about (this from watch Selling NY) is that the agent will leave the listing up even after it is sold!! When someone sees it online they call the agent and they will say 'there is an offer on it, but I can show you something else' and snag a new client....


I agree that you should not care about what you hear... it should not make a difference to you in what you think the property is worth and how you bid.... if there is another bid and they are higher than you, so be it... there is more RE to be had...


There is one comment I can remember when I bought my first house... we were at closing and the RE agent lied to the closer... I said I would not sign some paperwork until things were done right... I was told that the contractor that was hired (paid for by the seller) had the right to 'fix' the problem.... When I told the closing lady if she would work with someone who lied to her... she said "I do it everyday".....

It wasn't "just" putting her card down. I should have elaborated. The renters were there and she had them write their name, address and phone number down for her.

Wow...is all I can say regarding the response the closer gave you. I believe her don't you? Speaks volumes huh?