Hi Wayne,

We all have been in your shoes before... Sorry about not getting the house that you loved.. but there are more. Only, with the seller's permission is the listing agent able to advise that the house price is negotiable.

All offers MUST be made to the seller, whether in writing or verbal. If you had/have a true buyer agency agreement, your buyer's agent should have verbalized your offer to the seller. Best case, you should have insisted that the buyer agent write the offer and present it to the sellers... not the selling agent.

If your buyer agency agreement has expired, or if you cancel it, maybe you need a strong negotiating agent. If so, I will be happy to assist you.

Glenda Marks, Broker/Owner
Marks Real Estate & Auction Co.
Charlotte, NC
Ph: 980-322-2532

Sorry you lost out, but really all offers must be presented, who knows what the seller will do; worst case scenario they say no, best case they counter.

Anna

Wayne - the only place you went was wrong was not firing the agent who refused to make your offer and finding a new agent to present that offer. The listing agent doesn't need to tell your agent the price is negotiable, it's pretty much understood that all prices are negotiable.

As for making low ball offers, I've done plenty, and seen some accepted, some declined, but what they've all done is open the door for negotiations in an attempt to find a common ground acceptable to both parties.

Good luck when you find your next home, hopefully you'll love it more than the one that got away.

Daniel

Hi Wayne and thanks for your offer.

As an agent, our first duty is to our principal--in this case, that was you, as the buyer. If the buyer says "put in an offer", I put in an offer. If the buyer asks my opinion about the price and I say "$230K is a good price based on comparable sales", and the buyer says, "no, I want to offer only $190K" then I put in an offer at $190K. Simple as that. I might show my buyer the prices, and find out the reason for the $190K, but if I truly am serving my client as his/her agent, then I present the offer--that is, after all, the basis of the very foundation of agency.

It would seem that, in this particular case and based solely on the facts you've presented, that your agent decided that it was not worth his/her time to present an offer that might be rejected, and, frankly, such a determination was not the agent's call in my opinion.

In the future, it's best to work with someone who truly understands your needs and will represent you fully to find the home of your dreams. Good luck!!

Sincerely,
Grace Morioka
Area Pro Realty

Hi wayne,

I'm sorry to hear you missed out on the home, but I'm sure you'll find another. Out of curiosity, in your story it seems like you didn't put in the offer because your agent didn't want to do a low ball offer, and then the home sold. So did you walk away from the home? Or maybe there was an offer already on the home and that's why your agent was worried that the offer would be too low. The only rerason I say this is, is that homes take a while to sell even with an accepted offer, so it just seemed strange that the house sold so quickly without any offers on it.
If it truly was your agent's refusing to put in the offer, you should have asked him to do a market analysis and see what a decent offer would be taking into account the repairs neccessary.

All in all. I wish you good luck in the next one and take it as a lesson learned. We are professionals and if you'd like an explanation as to why you should or shouldn't do something, your agent shouldn't have a problem backing up his advice.

HI Wayne...

Sorry you missed out... I am sorry, but in today's market, NO offer is a low offer and ALL offers should be presented. I think you should re-look at your agent. I don't typically like to dis other agents, but I think think you've been done a dis-service here. You do not know the frame of mind, nor do you know the circumstance of the seller. You cannot say, just because it's a "low" offer it's worthless. I tell my sellers -if you really want to sell, work with the offer, period. Again, I would re-evaluate working with your Buyer's Agent. ALL offers in North Carolina must be presented, period, and no one should talk you out of making one. NO agent should say they don't want to "waste their time" writing a low, or a "low ball" offer. That's just wrong. Good luck finding another property. I work in that area, please let me know if I can help you

Also protocol:
1) ALL offers are to be presented
2) The listing agent doesn't have to tell the buyers agent anything about the price being negotiable but most listing agents will offer up any information that their clients deem to be appropriate to sell the property, like if the client was willing to do owner financing, etc.
3) There are NO insulting offers, is what I tell my clients, both buyers and sellers, as I said earlier, with today's market you don't know what the situation of the other party is, and they may be willing to work with any offer, low or not. I also tell my clients, an offer is an offer... DO NOT take it personal.
4) The buyers agent, is representing you. It is his/her job to do their best to seek out any pertinent information on the property to help you decide whether you want to purchase the property, or not. They should try to develop and open dialog with the Listing Agent and gather as much information as possible to help you through with your decision.

Hope that helps!

In your agents duty as your buyer's agent, he/she should have presented any and all offers..... I have had a very good year so far in Yadkin, Surry, Stokes, and Davie counties despite the market and have put in offers much lower than asking price and then eventually going under contract with some negotiation. You just never know and the only way to find out is to present all offers. Next time, insist your agent present your offer no matter what it is. Good luck to you!

Hi Wayne -- first of all, I'm sorry that this happened to you. It sounds like you wanted this home and were going through all the proper steps to see if it could work for you.

I can only speak for myself and how I've been doing business in today's environment. It is very commonplace these days for me to have some out-of-the-box discussions with the agent on "the other side" in order to see how we might be able to make a deal work for both our our clients. I have found that if I am completely up front with the other agent and let them know why we are offering a particular amount of money, no one is offended. Quite the contrary, in fact. Most agents want to have a straightforward, honest approach with one another and everyone -- clients and agents -- stand to benefit by this type of dialogue. After all, buyers want to buy, sellers want to sell and agents don't get paid unless they can successfully negotiate a deal.

I don't write lowball offers on properties, but after about 2 or 3 months of watching it and seeing it still on the market, I would been more inclined to entertain writing your offer for $215k. Properties that are going to sell at/around/above list price are usually going to do so within the first 30-45 days of being listed. After that, the owner can expect lower than list/low ball offers. They probably didn't have any offers and the owner figured they would take whatever they could get. You have to be realistic when making offers on properties. What they paid and what they owe is irrelevant to the value of the home. In general terms, people aren't going to give their homes away in the beginning. However, the longer it stays on the market, the better it is for the buyer, but that is a wait and see game where the buyer risks someone else coming in and swooping up the house before the price gets to where you want or need it to be. Remember, if you like it, chances are, someone else likes it also.

Fire your agent! A real estate agent should present any and all offers. Best of luck in your next offer. Hopefully, you will find a Realtor that will ensure your offer is presented and let the seller decide if it is too low or not.

I'm not an agent just a new homebuyer and my opinion is, its always worth a shot. Whats the worst that could happen? They turn you down and you walk away...isn't that what happened anyway? The only difference is you walked away without trying first. Its all a gamble really and depends on market variables and the motivation of the Seller. I disagree with your agent and would have more than likely insisted on putting in an offer anyhow.