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We're going to be talking with a lawyer, but we just made an offer on a house and the seller responded by saying that:
1) They're accepting the offer, but will be entertaining better offers as they continue to show the house (and will take a higher offer if presented to them).
2) They refuse to put money into the house for anything but code violations...but the house was never listed "as is."
To be frank, the seller's agent has been very aggressive and rude (questioning our approval, our lender, our finances, etc...) and even initially suggested that she didn't want to show the seller our initial offer, which was 12% under the asking price. She ultimately did, but this process has been less than friendly. Our final offer - which they are "accepting" - was about 6% under asking price.
We plan to ask for money left in escrow for the unopened pool, a favorable engineers report, etc..., but it doesn't seem like it's going to be a friendly process.
Suggestions? As stated, I'd like to review with a lawyer, but interested in your thoughts.
Sounds to me like they are countering your initial offer with terms ( ability to continue to market and show the property and not being willing to fix anything) not to your liking. It's up to you to accept the terms, or not.
The seller's agent is doing her job and defending her client's best interests, which is different than being rude. It's her job to assist her clients in determining your ability to close.
Not "wanting" to show the seller an offer is not the same thing "refusing" to show the offer, which would be illegal. The listing agent sounds like a tough negotiator and good at what she does, given you increased your offer by 6%.
You can push back and walk away if the seller does not agree or you can accept some terms and ask for something in return.
Where the heck is your agent? Pouting in a corner because the listing agent is not making nice?
Thanks for the feedback. It's helpful. Our agent has been standing up for our interests, but there has been a significant amount of drama on the part of the seller's agent.
The seller's agent (channeling the sellers) has been very abrasive...I suppose it might be seen as simply tough tactics to use threats, complaints, and ultimatums, but ultimately, they'll also work against the sellers, since if things get abrasive enough, we'll simply walk away and not accept their counter offers. Our last offer was a "final" offer, though more friendlier negotiations might have led to a better price. We won't know, since that wasn't the approach that she took.
I'm mostly concerned with what's legal and ethical, and for recommendations on approach. I don't want to cater to one person's drama and let the house slip, but we've also got low tolerance for intimidation tactics.
It is fairly common here to have a contract on the house and have the listing changed from "Active" not to "Pending" but to "Pending Taking Backup Offers". That is so that if the deal should fall through, the seller is protected, and the house can continue to be shown. Now, if a better offer comes in, the seller can't accept the better offer just because it's a better offer - that offer is not considered until and unless the already accepted offer falls out.
There's also "Active Contingent", for those cases where the accepted offer is contingent on the buyer selling their own home, say. In that case, the house is on the market and if a better offer comes along (one without contingencies, even), the buyer has a period of time, specified in the contract, to remove the contingency and move forward with purchasing the home, or the contract is no longer valid.
You say that there's been a fair amount of drama on the listing agent's end. Have you witnessed this personally, or is it filtered through your agent?
It is all a negotiation, so it depends on how much you like/ want the house. One problem is that you will need to do some inspections and that will cost you money. You will also have to move forward on financing, etc.
You could tell them they can have more time, but if they sell to another party, they are responsible to reimburse you for all expenses (i.e. inspections) that you incur. I would highly recommend a set time frame - ie. one week, for them to find an alternate buyer. Otherwise, you are wasting your time and energy, not to mention the emotions of buying a house!
Or, you can call their bluff, and just say No - either they accept your offer or you walk.
I don't really see the need for you to call a lawyer. Just make sure your agent negotiates your side of the deal in your best interest.
Many agents attempt to intimidate the contra party agent and create big ole dramas to motivate them to "get real" with their clients. As I said " not wanting to" show the contract is not the same thing as refusing.
At this point, both parties are in agreement on price, provided you agree that you will not negotiate home repairs that may come to light during the home inspection. There is nothing illegal ot unethical about a seller refusing to negotiate repairs.
This is not the same thing as giving up the ability to walk away if inspection/mechanical/structural findings are more significant than expected. The language in the contract must be clear on this.
A reserve for an unopened pool is reasonable, given the season. I am surprised it was not inserted into the intial contract.
This business about continuing to show the property is a consession in the making, unless your offer is contingent upon a home sale/close.
I work in a state where once price and terms are agreed upon, the contract goes into attorney review, concurrent with the home inspection period. This may or may not be the custom in your state. If it's not, I would have an attorney review the contract before it becomes final.
You can get caught up in the drama or you can enjoy the ride. It soundslike you really want this house.
We are OK with losing the house...I'm just not going to blow the deal because of this agent's BS. But it's a fine line and we're quite willing to walk away.
In our area, we don't actually start with a contract - we start negotiations with signed purchase offers that eventually become a contract after the inspection is done. From all of the real estate pros I've talked to (including 2 in my immediate family), there's nothing limiting from them accepting offers during this period.
Of course, that means we could pay for an inspection and then they could subsequently take a better offer, so our real estate agent has basically asked them to sign something saying they're going to pay for the inspection in that scenario. It also means that they can "accept" our offer but then accept others.
The type of specific annoyances we've been dealing with:
- The acreage was inflated by 20% on the listing, even though they've got a survey in-hand
- The seller's agent was telling/pressuring our agent to get the inspection done within 24 hours (we legally have 10 days)
- The seller's agent was telling our agent to order an inspection for us (we'll take recommendations, but we'll choose our own inspector, thanks)
- She's challenged our approval letter, choice of bank, finances, down payment choices, etc... --- all of which are more than adequate and none of her business.
- She ranted to our agent about the fact that we visited a few properties twice (one three times) without an offer (she wasn't present at the showings and some of the listings weren't even hers). All of these properties had issues, so we needed to decide what issues were deal-breakers. And my wife and I work different schedules, so we can't always see properties at the same time.
The list goes on...
Our agent has been standing up to her, but her tactics have really tread the line of what's ethical and what's not. Although she's being careful about her words and backtracking when confronted, she's pushing the limits.
Honestly, if she had a more conciliatory approach, we'd be much more willing to negotiate, so it's to her seller's detriment. Now we've got a take-it-or-leave-it attitude, which is unfortunate.
Anybody that is not easy to work with in this environment is out of their mind!
I don't care if it is the seller or their agent, for them to not realize that there are way more properties than buyers is tantamount to saying "I don't want this sale to close"...
It might be fun to think about ways to waste as much time of such a seller /agent as possible. From little things, like giving them the wrong time of meetings ("Oops did I say 11 o'clock, I mean 1 o'clock or having friends of yours email them for info on properties they have no intention of buying) to dragging out your responses to the results of inspection reports and such, but ultimately I have found it is easier to just IGNORE the lack of professionalism of some and focus on having the least interactions with them as possible. The old adage of "an unhappy customer tells 100 times more people than a satisfied one" ought to eventually catch- up with this joker and drive them out of the business!
Scott99999..is it really worth all that effort ? This is a buyer's market you know.
Maybe someone should tell the seller and the seller's agent that bit of news.
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