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Good question. I don't think there is unless you speak to the Seller directly. I have heard of agents pulling this stunt to increase commissions. Personally, if an agent gave me that line, I wouldn't put much stock in it. If you have properly done your research on the comps in the area before you made an offer, you should be okay. Don't be forced to offer asking price on the first go around just because an agent tells you about multiple offers.
It is entirely possible.. and offers can be fairly close. It's happened to me twice last year. List was 1,050,000. My offer 925,000. Sold for 931,000.
Second, was a tear down. List was 699,000. My offer was 637,500. Sold for 649,000.
Both my offers were above sold comp.
Both properties were unique to the district. The house... was the ONLY renovated ranch with pool on a half acre in the district. The tear down - an opportunity to build on a half acre in an upscale subdivision.
Is it a great house at a good price? Then there may be. This is the selling season - people want to close and move over the summer so this is the time to get that with time to spare.
We had 3 offers on our house in 2 weeks when we sold. The lowest was an all-cash offer that was never gonna get a house in GC if they didn't step up their game. The other two got into a bit of a bidding war. One couple dropped out and went to buy a house 2 streets over. I asked at our closing when that house was closing and it turned out they'd rescinded their offer as the house needed too much work.
So many variables with real estate - you have people who get excited and bid on a house they really can't afford...inspection turns up problems....etc etc. The people who lost on our house were penny wise and pound foolish - they could've had our house for another $10K but went with a dump and then realized they were about to step in it if they did and spend even more money.
If the house is priced at comps and move in ready you will see multiple offers. Are they all serious? Only time will tell. Pay what YOU are comfortable paying.
Welcome to the club. I believe that in most cases it is a real estate agent scam to get you to bid against yourself and drive up the price. Unless you must have the house and would pay anything to get it, I would walk.
We have seen these scenarios too many times over the years. And they smell especially bad when you are told that there are suddenly multiple bidders on a home that has languished for a long time. We are house-shopping and just ran across the same situation on a home that's been on the market for a year. We have decided to hang back on that one and look elsewhere. In the meantime, the flurry of interest in that property has strangely gone away since we made our initial inquiry. No one seems to be making an offer on it. It is already overpriced and the actual taxes are about $2,000 a year higher than shown on the listing. That fact doesn't make it any more attractive.
Another thing we are seeing is that real estate agents seem to be whipping sellers into a frenzy as if it was 2005 all over again. Just because there is more traffic this year (more lookers, not necessarily buyers), agents are deluding sellers into raising their prices higher than normal and standing firmer during negotiations. When we were selling our home, agents told us to absolutely rely on "comps" (recent sales of comparable homes) to set the price. Now that we are looking to buy and are relying on recent sales to make our offers, we are being told comps don't matter that much.
In short, real estate is a dirty business. Good luck in your search. If our experience is any guide, you'll need it.
Last edited by longislander2; 03-12-2013 at 08:13 AM..
There is no consequence for a real estate agent telling this lie because it's not in writing, so they do it all the time...it's a lie at least half of the time. Especially when they know the seller isn't going to accept your offer, they'll fib to try to get you to up it.
Unlike my other posts on this board, I am not going to be rational and reasonable in my response here but actually side with Janitor Joe's intuitive approach, that is, if it's meant to be, you will get the house. We had been looking for 2+ years, and over that time, bid on several houses, some bids were lost, some we won, but then pulled away either before or even after inspection in one case, but then we saw our house and literally fell in love with it. The bidding started, we agreed on the price, and then after the inspection, found a few things (nothing major, but roof was in bad shape), and wanted to bring the price down even more, at that point, the agent started saying there were 4 other bidders with higher prices. My husband was going insane, telling me every day that we were going to lose the house, so I said "This is my house, I put a spell on it, and we are going to get it, watch it, after the Memorial day, they will agree to our price", that was the beginning of May. Now, don't fall off your chair, but I still remember the day-Wed after the Memorial day, the agent calls me and says they agree to our price. Do you really feel strongly about the house, do you love it, or just like it? It has to feel right, I can't even describe it, but when we first walked into it, it's a split level, and these are normally dark on the first floor, this one was all sunlight, great layout, I just stood there and felt it was home.
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. If you have properly done your research on the comps in the area before you made an offer, you should be okay. Don't be forced to offer asking price on the first go around just because an agent tells you about multiple offers.
