So I am in the market to buy a property.
The day I saw the property the agent told me that there was another buyer.
None the less,i made my offer and the agent said that the other buyer had made an offer and that the buyer would consider the other buyers offer.
I let it be for a day or two.
Now the agent calls to say that the offer we have made was a bit low and that the seller wants to negotiate.
Frankly,i am annoyed to much with the agent that I want to go to the seller directly and talk to him about doing a deal without the agent.
He will save his 2.2% and we will all be happy.
What would you do?
Agent Lied to Us about Having Another Buyer for Property. Should I Go Direct to The Buyer and Buy The Property?
grabngo on 29/01/2016 - 20:40
Comments
The seller might not even be able to sell to this person without paying this agent as there is usually a clause about having introduced the potential buyer.
Happens a lot with recruitment agents who seem to use a similar clause, hence people dislike recruiters and real estate agents.
Sounds like the agent is doing his job & trying to get the best price for is client. Obviously you are trying to get the property for a low price & the seller wants a higher price so you negotiate what is the problem that's normally how it works.
I am not sure it is that simple.
I believe that the agent has a duty to keep his client fully informed. That extends to passing on all legitimate offers. It sounds like this might not have happened here - hard to tell.
I also believe that the agent has a duty not to lie to potential buyers as that misrepresentation could be actionable against both the agent and their principal. It sounds like this might well have happened here - again, hard to tell.
Of course, expecting real estate agents to have either principles or ethics at all is often a stretch.
Maybe you're overthinking it. There may well have been another buyer who pulled out. As the others have said, weigh up the money you spend versus the hassle you save.
nothing being over thought here.
The seller met a friend of mine on Thursday night and said that so far there was just one person ie me has visited the property.
Is the agent just being a typical agent?
Yep, when it comes to business, you can't trust them to tell you the time.
That's 'Real' estate for ya. No wonder the Chinese are so good at it! LOL
Mate. Have a look at our inflated house prices. Any Chinese buyers are just the icing on the cake to what we have been doing to ourselves for years
It's the vicious cycle, when it comes to sell your agent will be doing the same thing to someone else.
Normal behaviour. Only pay what you are willing to pay. No more.
report him to the REINSW.
doubt they'd do anything. but the real estate agent has lied, misled, acted deceptively and dishonestly.
sure he has been trying to secure the best price for the seller, but ultimately every $10,000 he squeezes out of the buyer is an extra $220 in his pocket.
sure, $10,000 grand is nothing in todays housing market.
tell a lie for $220…no problem. for $1100 ($50,000)? hell yeah.
real estate agents would be screaming if the federal government clamped down on foreign investment. of course, it's their livelihood. but at the same time…it's about supply and demand, and regardless, there should be some transparency and honesty in there.
I don't particularly like real estate agents.
Bad agents are scumbags. Decent agents make transactions smoother, and get a better price for the seller.
The worst agent I have ever dealt with was too busy to look after the sellers needs (we were the buyer). He took our offer, but said "I have a cash buyer ready to proceed." We said let us know if he beats our offer.
Spent the next day liquidating investments and transferring money so I could lodge a cash deposit only to get a call from the agent saying the 'cash buyer' met our offer and the vendor accepted. We were prepared to go $30k or $40k higher but the agent said 'too late, done deal'. Pissed me off no end.But there is nothing to be done except move on.
The lesson I learned from this and other deals is if you want to buy a house, don't quibble about $5k here or there. It will end up being pocket change compared to having a partner or your own mind complaining about the deal that got away for years to come. Think of the day you finally pay off your mortgage, would you pay an extra 2 or 3 months of payments to get what you want? Almost certainly, it is a payment you are used to making, is in non-inflation adjusted dollars from decades ago and you will wonder why you risked missing out on the house you wanted.
Looking back over the last 20 years, my lack of decisiveness with regard to real estate purchases has probably cost me $2m when I add in the gains I would have made had I pushed my risk tolerance a bit harder.
Right now, I could really use $2m ;-(But hey, I could have bought Apple stock at a couple of dollars, or invented Hotmail. There is no point in beating yourself up over missed opportunities.
Oh, and while my comment is true for both your home and an investment property, I personally think now would be a terrible time to buy an investment - but what do I know? I am the guy who could be $2m richer!
putting it in another perspective, I had the same thing happen to me, I called bullish*t, and made a low offer… turns out there was another buyer, i lost my dream home.
If you like it pay a little more, else move on.
and like others have said the seller is paying commission regardless
Most real estate agents you see in Australia are seller agent (unless they says they are buyer agent)
they will do anything to make the seller happy and get the most of your money, including lying. They smile in front of you but don't care a thing about give you best price. Careful!
This is called "negotiation"..
Remember, the agent acts in the seller's interests, not yours.
His job is to try squeeze every last cent out of you and your job is save every cent you can.
At what point is it called "lying"? When buyer says "I can't afford any more than what I've just offered", yet they can magically offer another couple of thousand when they realise they won't get the property at the price they've previously offered - is that called lying?
If you're so certain that someone is not telling the truth about something during a negotiation, you can always stick to your guns and call their bluff.
I am no real estate agent, but given the reputation that industry has, I wouldn't go out unprepared for some questionable behaviour.
Hope it all works out for you OP.
When I was looking to buy, I know that the selling estate agent sold a property I wanted to buy to another real estate agent from another agency for $1000 more than my last offer, and didn't get back to me…. I know this because I saw the other real estate agent talk to the selling agent at the initial inspection. RE agents are totally dodgy.
Real estate agents lie, that's their job, they lie to potential buyers and sellers alike. Assume everything they say to you is to get you to increase your offer. If i was in your situation i would just withdraw the offer, and tell them if the buyer wants to negotiate with you, to get in contact with you personally.
The agent can let you know that there is another (real) offer, but that doesnt mean that the other offer is a serious one. So just put in your best bid and see how it goes. If they come back to you for negotiation, that means they have got nothing else or they are trying to start a price war.
Agents are agents, they always play the "game". It is their job to get the best price for their client (and also because their commission is tied to the price). Which means they will wanna squeeze as much as possible from you. And your responsibility is to assess if they actually have anything on hand that is better than your offer. This is how business works. No one is gonna come upfront and say you are the only bidder.
If that's the price you want to pay just tell him you're not negotiable and forget about the agent playing games.
If he/she has REALLY p*ssed you off, contact the agency and ask to speak to the manager. Tell them you're interested in the property but refuse to deal with that individual so to put you in contact with someone else.
None the less,i made my offer and the agent said that the other buyer had made an offer and that the buyer would consider the other buyers offer.
Ask what the other offer was.
Why do you care? Just offer whatever you want to pay. Why do people get emotional about buying houses and cars?
so I place my offer which was reasonable.
and bam….some guy comes along on the last day and offers $75k more !
Back to the drawing board
The seller would still have to pay the agents fee even if he sold it directly to you - at least until the agent's 'exclusivity period' expires (2-3 months usually).