My Story - With Questions

**DanaWhiteFan** · 05-25-2008, 03:16 AM

I found another foreclosed home the wife and I were interested in. We viewed the home about a week ago and offered a little over the list price. A few days later I am talking to a lady at work, which had looked at the same home. She said that her agent (also the listing agent) had told her there were several offers on the home however they were all very low and she would have the highest offer if she was to offer the listing price. She told her this after I had put my offer in.

First Question: Is it common practice for agents to tell their clients this?

I then told the lady at work that we had offered on the home, and actually offered higher than list and advised her that her agent was not telling the truth. I asked her to email her agent to see if they were still accepting offers on the home. She did this and sent me the response, which stated that the bank had not received an acceptable offer; the offers submitted were too low.

Second Question: How is this an honest answer if my offer was OVER list and with no contingencies?

I am starting to think that the local REO agents are not submitting offers unless they are working both as the buyer and seller agent. I brought this up to our realtor (who also only deals with foreclosed properties) and he said that could be the case, but there was nothing we could do about it.

Last Question: If the listing agent is not submitting offers that are presented is there anything I can do about it?

[SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman]I am thinking about having the lady I work with submit a bid (a little lower than mine) since she is working directly with the listing agent so see how it plays out

**Codythebest** · 05-25-2008, 06:10 AM

Well...It's a tough call because agents know how to deal unethicaly, and even illegaly, without the show any proof.
I'm in TN and the higher the reputation of an agent, the higher the risk to be screwed. Amazing.
I do believe that if your offer has not been presented, it's only becae of money. The agent is more interested of having seller and buyer, so (s)he can get more money.
Make your offer with the listing agent. Tell her/him (s)he can get more money now, so there is nothing not to present it. Of course, (s)he'll deny but you and me, we know you'll do business at last...

**jamesww** · 05-25-2008, 11:46 AM

Originally Posted by DanaWhiteFan

First Question: Is it common practice for agents to tell their clients this?

No, it is not something that all agents tell their clients.

Originally Posted by DanaWhiteFan

Second Question: How is this an honest answer if my offer was OVER list and with no contingencies?

It is not a honest answer but there are alot of agents out there right now doing very unethical things. They have come into this market through this last boom not having to make a good reputation for themselves because of how hot it was and that there was always another client around the corner.

Originally Posted by DanaWhiteFan

Last Question: If the listing agent is not submitting offers that are presented is there anything I can do about it?

Yes, if your agent has guts and knowledge in REO sales they should be able to submit your offer directly to the loss mitigation coordinator. This should only be done if you and your agent truely believe that your offer has not been presented. If it has not been presented then the loss mitigation coordinator will tear into the agent and you will get a answer to your offer very quickly. If you go this route and the offer has been presented it can hurt you on this transaction because you will upset the listing agent and the loss mitigation coordinator may see you and your agent as pushy. This is the risk you take the REO business is a hard nosed and sometimes dirty specialty.

**portland real estate** · 05-25-2008, 11:06 PM

While it's possible that something shady is going on, there is also another possibility, which is that the bank has decided that they got so many offers so quickly that they think they may have under priced the property and are now holding out for an even higher price.

Banks are notorious for slow responses and changing their minds. Ultimately, the only way to find out the real story is to get in touch with the bank directly, which is no easy feat but can be done if you or your agent is willing to be incredibly persistent (meaning potentially spending hours on hold on the phone). Of course if it is a local bank (unlikely in many areas), then you might try driving down to the office and seeing if you can't get to someone in person.