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Reas and Realtors often have "pocket buyers". These are potential buyers who have formed a business relationship (formal or informal) with the REA or Realtor. Their agreement is that when a certain property, or any property gets and offer or "interest" that potential buyer gets notified right away.
So you expressed interest and voila, that pocket buyer got a phone call and now there is that cash buyer in the wings. It happens and often.
Your "theory" sounds like the ramblings of a very paranoid person. If I understand you correctly, you believe agents have buyers waiting in the wings to make offers for the sole purpose of driving up the price? Out of curiousity . . . what brand of tin foil do you make your hats out of? If you want to say some agents lie or make up offers that's one thing but to actually have people waiting around to make fake offers is a whole other matter.
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Originally Posted by EngGirl
I don't have a problem with agents here. It just too funny that everyone (agents) here is a smart and good working ones and I met only bad guys (and girls)... Realtors on this forum know everything, but in my real world - not even close to everything.
I asked many time for a help. I don't want to get referral for a "good agent", I want to know how to choose! What to expect? What to ask him/her? I've been using family friends, co-worker recommended agents, randomly picked ones online - all the same, non of them being as good as this forum realtors...
That's why I wrote to OP to be ready for comments like "you had bad realtor" or "something wrong with you" and guess what? this is exactly what we heard from forum realtors
I've gor few possitive ratings for my first post. I bet it's npt from forum agents
Anyone who tells you they know everything in fact knows nothing. I believe we've got a pretty good group of agents chiming in here on a regular basis. It's not easy to find an agent of high caliber as they're definitely not in the majority in this industry. The larger problem is that bad agents are often not stupid people. They know what you want to hear and they tell what you want to hear whether they believe it or not. They can't maintain the lie forever and once they win your business their colors usually change pretty quickly. Don't be afraid to fire these people. Eventually, you'll find the right agent and once you do you'll be happy you did.
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Originally Posted by EngGirl
There is only one reason in our market why some houses are sitting and sitting and sitting around with fake cash offers.... because these houses are oversold! Everything priced reasonably are going into contract within 24-48 hours with the bidding wars... In that case I belive in pocket buyers who really want to get houses as soon as houses listed.
Every agent has buyers they are working with. Of course, we are going to inform them of new listings (it's our job). Often, my clients find out about new listings before they hit MLS which gives them a leg up on other buyers. My market is extremely competitive right now and that's a huge plus.
I don't have buyers waiting in the wings to make fake offers (that's just crazy talk).
As a mortgage banker, I see an extremely wide variance of skillsets on our side of the fence as well. Doesn't take much to get into either field, they are both commission-based (for the most part), and they both can have word-of-mouth training programs, if any. Makes those of us to treat it as a career look bad.
and to me also and to other 3 families I know of who on the market right now...
Hey, MrRational, you want more examples? I'm sure there are plenty more people who can chime in on the use of phantom competing buyers to make people bid against themselves. I'm sure it's a tactic in every agent's playbook and it's clear that many aren't afraid to use it.
Phantom bids....i think what many times happens is that there is someone sort of sitting on the fence...'always liked that house...might like to own it some day'. Realtors think they are clever, and most of them can't keep their mouths shut, so as soon as they get a buyer, they run off their mouths to someone/anyone in the office about 'i have a buyer for xyz property.' Anyone within ear shot that has ever had anyone look at the property then starts making calls, and the 'phantom buyer' materializes. Just walk. If the property stays on the market, go to another realtor and make a bid.
It isn't directly related to the topic at hand, but if you want to have fun with a realtor, say something, and get them to agree with you. "This place would really sell better if it had a fresh coat of paint'. "Oh yes, that is VERY important when it comes to selling a property, especially in 'this' market"
Wait a few weeks and say "i just don't see that painting really helps sell a property. Buyers want to decorate to their own tastes anyhow". " Oh yes, there is no advantage to painting. Buyers see right through the cosmetic stuff right away."
Works every time.
Very shallow group the realtor bunch is. They will agree with anything just to A): Sound prophetic, and B) stroke the person at hand.
Caveat Emptor: Not to buying a house, but to buying a realtor to buy a house.
We are seeing two interesting things pop up as we look to purchase our next home:
1. We expressed interest in one property that has been overpriced and on the market for about 350 days. As soon as our agent inquired, we were informed by the sellers' agent that there is suddenly another all-cash buyer interested in the property. Surprise! Surprise! It's amazing how these competing buyers suddenly pop out of thin air on homes that have languished.
2. When we were selling our home, we were told that the comps were the Holy Grail in determining its listing price. Now that we are looking to buy and are doing some serious research on recent sales to establish an appropriate purchase price, we are being told by agents that the comps aren't really that important.
Does anyone wonder why the real estate business doesn't have a better reputation?
I agree completely! This happened to me while living on Long Island buying and selling - both double standard tricks.
It seemed that the instant that we were interested in a house, an all cash buyer just popped out of the wood work! Just like that!
Yet when selling, our home, the comps were the Bible and the low ball ones were "of particular interest" to the agent!
Before we listed we "had a beautiful home" it was "tastefully decorated" and in a "beautiful location".
After the ink was dry on the contract the house "needed up dating" was "too close to 25A" and "the floors needed refinishing". And - her husband was in the Floor Refinishing Business!
What a coincidence!
The industry in full of scam artists. Contractors with RE broker wives, BS artists, people who want a quick sale but don't give a crap about how much YOU recoup after the sale.
And this is not limited to Long Island or NY. I found the same stuff in PA and houses that magically increased in price when they found out that we were originally from NY.
We bought a house in Ohio and didn't deal with Real Estate this time. A much smoother and drama free experience.
From my experience when an agent says there is another offer there usually is. I've lost plenty of multiple offer bids over the years to not doubt an agent when they say, though I'll admit there are times that I'm suspicious. Let me ask, if one buyer likes a property and is considering making an offer then isn't it plausible there is another buyer doing the same?
Timing is everything, multiple offers is just one of those unfortunate events that buyers sometimes run into. When I'm the seller side of a multiple offer situation it's actually quite surprising the number of people that don't believe it and then lose out because they don't improve their initial offer.
It isn't directly related to the topic at hand, but if you want to have fun with a realtor, say something, and get them to agree with you. "This place would really sell better if it had a fresh coat of paint'. "Oh yes, that is VERY important when it comes to selling a property, especially in 'this' market"
Wait a few weeks and say "i just don't see that painting really helps sell a property. Buyers want to decorate to their own tastes anyhow". " Oh yes, there is no advantage to painting. Buyers see right through the cosmetic stuff right away."
Works every time.
Very shallow group the realtor bunch is. They will agree with anything just to A): Sound prophetic, and B) stroke the person at hand.
Caveat Emptor: Not to buying a house, but to buying a realtor to buy a house.
My comment was about the wide variety of problems that you seem to come across.
Not whether or not X or Y has happened (or not).
The implication is about what the common denominator in all these scenarios might be.
Of course it could just be the unique nature of RE on Long Island.
From my experience when an agent says there is another offer there usually is. I've lost plenty of multiple offer bids over the years to not doubt an agent when they say, though I'll admit there are times that I'm suspicious. Let me ask, if one buyer likes a property and is considering making an offer then isn't it plausible there is another buyer doing the same?
Timing is everything, multiple offers is just one of those unfortunate events that buyers sometimes run into. When I'm the seller side of a multiple offer situation it's actually quite surprising the number of people that don't believe it and then lose out because they don't improve their initial offer.
We had a "unique" house that was on the market a long time. (If we knew then what we know now, we would have handled things differently, but that is another story). However, we did have two parties who "expressed interest" at about the same time (one of which resulted in the eventual sale). The other party's Realtor directly accused my agent of lying to him. Even though she was a long time professional in a tough business, she was really hurt and offended by this and I didn't blame her. It does happen even though it seems improbable and no one deserves to be called a liar, especially by someone who has no evidence of it.
More to the point, no intelligent and responsible agent (or seller who is paying attention) would lie about this and take the risk of driving off a buyer when there is no other offer on the table and the house has been on the market for awhile.
So people need to think about all the angles on this before drawing conclusions.
I saw a house on an Open House. I was very interested in it. The family, not so much...the listing agent told me a family of X has come by 3 times to look at it, prior to me, who was "interested". BTW It never sold. It was taken off of the market a little over a year after.
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