Homebuyers: ever NOT been told that there were other interested parties?

DougK62

Diamond Member
Mar 28, 2001
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...and was it under unusual circumstances? I'm shopping for houses now and every time that I meet with a seller's agent they're quick to tell me that there are a lot of other interested parties.

If there are no other interested parties, is it legal to lie like this? Is there anyway to check and see if they are telling the truth? Are records kept of house showings that can be obtained?

 

Kelemvor

Lifer
May 23, 2002
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I've never been told that but I've never dealt with a Selling Realtor.

Frankly there are ALWAYS other interested parties. But if none of them have made an offer, then it doesn't matter if there are thousands of other interested parties. If it's a great house in a good location for a good price, and YOu are interested... Cances are so is someone else. So then just don't put in a lowball offer hopping for a good deal because the other person might not.

Normally houses go to whoever puts in the offer first (unless the offer is out of line with the price).

I've seen that show on HGTV or wherever and they've had people who looked at a hosue one evening, said they wanted to think it over, and the next day when they went to make an offer it was too late and someone else had made one the night before.

When we saw our house, we saw it one day, brought our parents to see it the next day, made an offer that night and it got accepted within a couple hours.
 

DT4K

Diamond Member
Jan 21, 2002
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We weren't told that.
We had driven by this house when it was still under construction and briefly looked at it.
About a month later, it was one of the properties our realtor showed us. She didn't say anything about "other interested parties". We walked through it and decided to make an offer right then. Had it accepted the next day. Of course we offered full price because it was a good price and we were also asking the seller to jump through some extra hoops regarding our closing costs, etc.
 

flot

Diamond Member
Feb 24, 2000
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Why are you dealing directly with the seller's agent?

Some agents will lie, some won't. Honestly, it's not really in their best interest to lie about things, however the SELLERS AGENT's loyalty is to the SELLER, not your own under any circumstances.

Unless you are asking the sellers agent to cut you a deal on the commission (4% would be reasonable) you should probably be dealing with your own agent.

Edit: Depending on your market and the price range you're looking at, yes it is entirely possible that the realtors are telling you the truth.
 

Wingznut

Elite Member
Dec 28, 1999
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Originally posted by: flot
Why are you dealing directly with the seller's agent?

Some agents will lie, some won't. Honestly, it's not really in their best interest to lie about things, however the SELLERS AGENT's loyalty is to the SELLER, not your own under any circumstances.

Unless you are asking the sellers agent to cut you a deal on the commission (4% would be reasonable) you should probably be dealing with your own agent.

Edit: Depending on your market and the price range you're looking at, yes it is entirely possible that the realtors are telling you the truth.
Keep in mind that if you do retain a buyer's agent, he also works on commission (usually 2.7%) of the sale of the house.
I wouldn't presume the buyer's agent would be on your side since the higher the selling price, the more he gets paid as well.

 
Jan 18, 2001
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After our offer was accepted, but before negotiations pending inspections were complete, the little old lady we bought from flat out told us she wasn't showing the house anymore, and that she didn't have any other offers. She was too sweet to use that info against her though. :)
 
Jan 18, 2001
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Originally posted by: Wingznut
Originally posted by: flot
Why are you dealing directly with the seller's agent?

Some agents will lie, some won't. Honestly, it's not really in their best interest to lie about things, however the SELLERS AGENT's loyalty is to the SELLER, not your own under any circumstances.

Unless you are asking the sellers agent to cut you a deal on the commission (4% would be reasonable) you should probably be dealing with your own agent.

Edit: Depending on your market and the price range you're looking at, yes it is entirely possible that the realtors are telling you the truth.
Keep in mind that if you do retain a buyer's agent, he also works on commission (usually 2.7%) of the sale of the house.
I wouldn't presume the buyer's agent would be on your side since the higher the selling price, the more he gets paid as well.

They might make a little more money, but I would think that agents would make more money in the long run by simply closing each deal as quickly as possibly. A $5,000 difference is only $300 -600 extra to the agent(s). Whereas if you can manage 1 extra sell per year, thats would more than make up for slightly less commissions. More sales would also increase your future referrals.


 

FeathersMcGraw

Diamond Member
Oct 17, 2001
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Originally posted by: Wingznut
Keep in mind that if you do retain a buyer's agent, he also works on commission (usually 2.7%) of the sale of the house.
I wouldn't presume the buyer's agent would be on your side since the higher the selling price, the more he gets paid as well.

The buyer's agent is legally obliged to work in the buyer's best interests. If they're not, there are legal recourses, since you will typically sign a contract to retain their services.

The buyer's agent commission is typically split with the seller's agent from the commission specified by the seller when the house was listed. Unless you're looking at a FSBO or a house whose seller listed a commission lower than the buyer's agent's commission rate (which may leave the buyer responsible for making up the difference), there's really not any impact to the buyer.
 

DrPizza

Administrator Elite Member Goat Whisperer
Mar 5, 2001
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www.slatebrookfarm.com
Originally posted by: HomeBrewerDude
Originally posted by: Wingznut
Originally posted by: flot
Why are you dealing directly with the seller's agent?

Some agents will lie, some won't. Honestly, it's not really in their best interest to lie about things, however the SELLERS AGENT's loyalty is to the SELLER, not your own under any circumstances.

Unless you are asking the sellers agent to cut you a deal on the commission (4% would be reasonable) you should probably be dealing with your own agent.

Edit: Depending on your market and the price range you're looking at, yes it is entirely possible that the realtors are telling you the truth.
Keep in mind that if you do retain a buyer's agent, he also works on commission (usually 2.7%) of the sale of the house.
I wouldn't presume the buyer's agent would be on your side since the higher the selling price, the more he gets paid as well.

They might make a little more money, but I would think that agents would make more money in the long run by simply closing each deal as quickly as possibly. A $5,000 difference is only $300 -600 extra to the agent(s). Whereas if you can manage 1 extra sell per year, thats would more than make up for slightly less commissions. More sales would also increase your future referrals.

When you sign the contract with the selling agent, they're pretty much bound to work in your best interests. If you could prove that they said to a buyer "they're asking 100,000, but have had the house on the market for 6 months without an offer, I'll bet they'd take an offer of 85k" then you may have grounds for a lawsuit.
 
Jan 18, 2001
14,465
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Originally posted by: DrPizza
Originally posted by: HomeBrewerDude
Originally posted by: Wingznut
Originally posted by: flot
Why are you dealing directly with the seller's agent?

Some agents will lie, some won't. Honestly, it's not really in their best interest to lie about things, however the SELLERS AGENT's loyalty is to the SELLER, not your own under any circumstances.

Unless you are asking the sellers agent to cut you a deal on the commission (4% would be reasonable) you should probably be dealing with your own agent.

Edit: Depending on your market and the price range you're looking at, yes it is entirely possible that the realtors are telling you the truth.
Keep in mind that if you do retain a buyer's agent, he also works on commission (usually 2.7%) of the sale of the house.
I wouldn't presume the buyer's agent would be on your side since the higher the selling price, the more he gets paid as well.

They might make a little more money, but I would think that agents would make more money in the long run by simply closing each deal as quickly as possibly. A $5,000 difference is only $300 -600 extra to the agent(s). Whereas if you can manage 1 extra sell per year, thats would more than make up for slightly less commissions. More sales would also increase your future referrals.

When you sign the contract with the selling agent, they're pretty much bound to work in your best interests. If you could prove that they said to a buyer "they're asking 100,000, but have had the house on the market for 6 months without an offer, I'll bet they'd take an offer of 85k" then you may have grounds for a lawsuit.

uhhuh. But wingnut was talking about buyer's agents and my point is still valid in terms of sellers agents trying to manuever a few extra thousand dollars out a prospective buyer.
 

PanzerIV

Diamond Member
Dec 19, 2002
6,875
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Originally posted by: FrankyJunior
I've seen that show on HGTV or wherever and they've had people who looked at a hosue one evening, said they wanted to think it over, and the next day when they went to make an offer it was too late and someone else had made one the night before.

When we saw our house, we saw it one day, brought our parents to see it the next day, made an offer that night and it got accepted within a couple hours.



Yeah, I love House Hunters on HGTV.

I found my house the first day it was listed early on a Saturday morning. It was a whopping 7/10 of a mile from where I live so I drove around looking for it but couldn't find it because they handn't listed the street # right on the MLS and the sign wasn't even up yet. An hour later I took my wife to look for it and we saw the realtor putting the sign up in the yard. I contacted my agent and looked at it the next day when she was available, put an offer in on it and that Monday it was accepted. :D No way anybody was getting it before me! LOL