I think I have a shady realtor.

**padycat** · 05-10-2009, 07:44 AM

I made an offer on a house Friday afternoon.House listed at 355,000 and I made an offer of 345,000 with a closing date of June 15. Couldn't get a hold of my realtor the rest of the day. Saturday I finally get a hold of him. He tells me the owners are out of state and cant get our offer to them. At 5 o'clock Saturday, realtors calls as to tell me there has been another other at the asking price with a closing date on May 23. After some questioning I find out its a realtor bidding against us. After more calling we find out this realtor is in the same office as our realtor...working for the same company. Her office is the next door. Our realtor wants us to over bid on Monday. Drove by the office last night to see her car out front at 8o'clock. I truly believe she is looking at our offer and knowing how to bid and our closing date. I know our offer was held to allow her to bid. Is this legal? After a year of home searching I find the perfect house and this is happening.

**REITrainingWhse** · 05-10-2009, 09:59 AM

Originally Posted by padycat

After a year of home searching I find the perfect house and this is happening.

And THAT is the problem... Emotions will get you in trouble EVERYTIME! You need to remember that there are HUNDREDS of "perfect homes" out there... Don't fall in love with one, and get BURNED.

I say let it go, and find another one. I know that is hard to take, but you might do things that you would normally NOT DO just because you fell in love with a house. Remember it is just a place to live, it is not THE ONLY place where you can live.

But you will do what you will do... And no this doesn't answer your question, which is... Yes... it is perfectlly legal to bid against you, it might be on the edge of ethical, but legal... Let the agent have it, there are others out there!

Later!

**RedCarpetSchool** · 05-10-2009, 02:51 PM

[FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]It would be hard to prove that your real estate agent is breaking the law of agency and his fuducialry role in this case. This happens a lot and as long as the Listing agent is not involved then your agent just may well be tring to get you the house and pulling as much information out of the other buyer

**Reverseit** · 05-11-2009, 07:10 PM

I agree with the two previous posts - find a new home and a new agent. If you suspect any shady activity, it's best to just walk away from it. When I was young, ALMOST purchased a condo out of emotion. Boy am I glad that I was talked out of it.

[QUOTE=RedCarpetSchool;57365][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]It would be hard to prove that your real estate agent is breaking the law of agency and his fuducialry role in this case. This happens a lot and as long as the Listing agent is not involved then your agent just may well be tring to get you the house and pulling as much information out of the other buyer

**luke8000road** · 05-12-2009, 04:24 AM

i agree with the point , that 's not the only one you can choose ,fall in love in another one.don't care of legal.

**kevin@BootStrapLearning** · 05-12-2009, 06:58 PM

Originally Posted by padycat

After some questioning I find out its a realtor bidding against us. After more calling we find out this realtor is in the same office as our realtor...working for the same company. Her office is the next door. Our realtor wants us to over bid on Monday. Drove by the office last night to see her car out front at 8o'clock. I truly believe she is looking at our offer and knowing how to bid and our closing date. I know our offer was held to allow her to bid. Is this legal? After a year of home searching I find the perfect house and this is happening.

One of the prime responsibilities of an agent is confidentiality. The interesting thing to me here is how much information you know about the other offer - that in itself is suspicious. The first step I would take in this instance is voicing your concerns to the agent(s) broker and if you don't find get satisfaction there take your concerns to your local board of Realtors.

The absolute bottom line here is that your relationship with your agent should be one based on trust. If you can't trust that your agent is acting in your best interest, walk away.