SouthBay Guy

Hi Rochroch,

I can tell you firsthand as a buyer that made a very fair offer with outstanding credit and 20% down, being ignored (not to mention rejected) was shocking to me. There were at least six offers on a property I wanted and my agent said that with the quality of my offer (granted it was a few thousand below asking but I expected to negotiate fully for a fair price) that I should expect to hear back quickly. Instead, we heard nothing and I had to keep bugging my agent to find out what was going on.

Then astonishingly, I saw the same property listed again on various sites not even a week later with no indication that it was a pending or backup offer pending. My agent and others said that unfortunately this happens a lot when sellers and their agents want to continue to get new offers that are either at or above their asking price. Line them up and see which one is the very best.

So, that is how a buyer feels when a seller rejects less than full price from a buyer. Not sure what can be done about this unethical practice (IMO and statements from friends) but it sure wasted a lot of our time and effort. Not sure if you are a FSBO or working with an agent, but some friends suggested that I complain to the REA at the least.

On the bright side, I am finding better and larger properties out there with asking prices waaay below what I was prepared to offer the first time. So there is a ying/yang to all of this madness.

Good luck to you. - Wed Jun 18 2008, 01:33