I am currently looking to move from Dallas to Austin and have been looking for houses in Austin. I have a broker who is acting as my agent and he has been great. He has spent about 3 days of his time showing me various houses that met my criteria. BUT, you knew there was a but didn’t you, I think that his actions boned me on a house that I liked.
I found a house that was, if I had to rate it based on what I was looking for, about 98% of perfect. Last night we went over the offer on the phone, he is in Austin and I am still in Dallas, and everything looked okay. My offer was for $5000 below asking price, and I am convinced that it was a fair offer given the details that I had. After we got off the phone he called the listing agent and told him we were going to make an offer this morning. The listing agent then called another interested party and told them that an offer was coming in. The other interested party, tipped to my impending offer made their own offer that was $5000 above asking price.
Is this common for the buyers representative to let the listing agent know that an offer will be coming? Should I be merely disappointed that I won’t get a great house, or should I be pissed off that my agent cost me a chance at the house?
I think what your agent did is common. Your agents wants to make sure that the seller’s agent knows an offer is forthcoming so they don’t go and sell the place that night. The weird thing is I wouldn’t think your agent would reveal your offer right away or how the other party would know your offer. Going $5K over the asking price is nuts but more power to the seller.
Sorry, I don’t have cites for this. It is based on what I know from buying my house and watching lots of friends and family (real estate agents included) go through these transactions.
Sorry about losing out on the house. You never know – a lot of homes that go into escrow don’t make it out. The house could still be available.
I am not sure about Texas, but in most states both agents are considered to be employed by the seller and should act in the seller’s best interest. Note that the seller pays their commissions.
A buyer’s agent would be working solely on your behalf if you were paying the agent yourself.
OTOH, there is no reason to tick off people who might then refer others to a more buyer friendly agent. (When I bought my first house, I used an agent that was the unofficial agent for my department. She knew I was referred to her and that if everything went okay, she would continue to get referrals.)
Remember, too, the first rule of real estate: Don’t fall in love with a house until it’s yours.
IOW, shop based on objective criteria - location, amenities, size, etc - but don’t get emotionally wrapped up in a property, or you set yourself up for bad things, like paying too much or having your heart broken when somebody else snatches your beloved house before you can close the deal.
I know that he didn’t tell the listing agent what my offer was going to be. Their information made it clear that they really were firm on their listing price. I’m guessing that the agent for the other buying party assumed my offer was going to be for the asking price and had his clients offer more.
I couldn’t tell what was meant by “going to make an offer”. If you actually made an offer, then I think the listing agent was obligated by law or ethics to convey this offer to the owner BEFORE calling to try and get another offer.
If “going to make an offer” was simply a big fat maybe, your agent didn’t need to tell this to the other agent, but there’s possibly nothing wrong doing so.
If the house is hot, the selling agent likes to tell all prospective buyers that there are many people interested and that all kinds of offers are coming in. That can create a frenzy over certain ideal properties.
I just went through the same thing. There seems to be an open sort of atmosphere as to how many people are bidding and interested in the property. This lets potential buyers know to hurry up with an offer if they are interested and it lets the current owners know that they should wait to get all the offers before they decide on the one they want.
Also, lots of times the first honest offer on a home may have a 24 or 48 hour counter/accept window that the owners have to respond within.
We lost a home to two other bidders even though we bid OVER the asking price.
The actual bid prices were never discussed, just the fact that there were lots of people interested and submitting offers. If the owners know the property is hot they can wait for a high offer.
In your case, if the house was perfect for you it was probably perfect for lots of people. Seems the agent was acting to get the best price for the property. It is uncouth and possibly illegal to announce the actual bids until after the owners accept an offer.