Home purchase

My wife and I are in the process of searching for a home. We made an offer on a house about a month ago that was on the market for 7 months. While we were making a counter offer we were informed that they had another offer on the house close to the listing price. We walked away from it. That house is still showing up on MLS. I believe they said it was a contingency deal where the buyer has to sell their place.

Just this week we made an offer on a different house. We made our first counter offer yesterday and now they are coming back saying that they have another offer from someone else. I find it very convenient that these houses that have been sitting there for a long time all of a sudden have multiple offers.

I would have to think the sellers realtors are just throwing this out there to try and get us to get into a bidding war. Is this legal because it sure does not seem ethical? I have only purchased one house and I am not well versed in this matter. My realtor is starting to piss me off as well and does not seem nearly aggressive enough.

Thanks for any advice.

It is illegal and unethical to do this as a realtor. As far as your offer and counter offer.- Stay strong with what you want to pay for the house! Don't overpay in this market. If your original offer was not good enough for them then that's the way it goes. They are probably set on a price and wont go below it and they are playing games with you to get you closer to their price. As a realtor- you do not have to submit every offer that comes in to the seller, if you have multiple offers they will usually only present the top 3-4 on the house.

If it is a Bank Owned home , the Bank ( actually the investor that holds the note) has a set price he/she wants to NET out of the deal. If it is below that then they will counter or ignore you all together.

Are you working with a realtor or doing this on your own. Not that it matters but sometimes other realtors can see through the typical BS tactics of the sellers. Also if you have access to full MLS like a realtor then you can see other things that a normal person searching on the internet can not see. ( notes, taxes and other items affecting the house).

Good luck. if you feel like your being played --- you probably are- move on and find a reputable realtor to do business with.

Tis the season, but I agree with Edouble. They could have other offers, but more likely just trying to see where your comfort level is without playing the back and forth counter game.

These days, my guess is a Realtor will do anything they can to get any sale... so lying about another offer to get a bit more on commission would seem opposite of what I would think

The owner of the house is also a realtor who works for Re/Max. My realtor said he would find it hard to believe if there was not another offer out there. I guess I am just more cynical than he is. We will just have to stick to our threshold and see what happens.

If you actually think they are trying to scam you into offering more you can file an ethics complaint with agents local Board of Realtors. You can also file a complaint at your state's Department of Real Estate. The agent has to keep all offers in the file for a period of time due to this very scenario. I was on National Association of Realtors ethics board for three terms. I just don't have the time anymore. It was always very, very interesting though.

You didn't say what market you are in. States have different laws regarding what an agent can reveal and not reveal. While I know it sounds fishy, what does your realtor think? Do the agents know each other? As other's suggested, I'd stick with my offer and let them deal with it and see what happens. You'll find out if it was a bluff. Although there are times when a buyer will "say" they're going to make an offer at such-and-such a price and then not do it. So ask if the offer is a written offer. In Florida, an agent can reveal some details (with the sellers permission) if he(or she) thinks it will help the seller. But generally speaking, most agents won't lie about what's on the table. They may fudge a bit - "I "think" I'm getting a contract close to list."

And in terms of being "aggressive" - what is it that your agent is not being aggressive enough about?

Good luck...
Lloyd

I would look at it this way. If you are interested in the house, then there is a likely hood that someones else is also. If they just dropped the price then it could have come in to your budgeted amount just as quickly as it did with someone else's.