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Hey guys,
we were working on a deal to buy a house through our agent. We had to make decission between 2 houses. We had a deadline to answer to one of them by a certain date. We wanted to give an offer to the other house owner to see which one worked out. We gave our offer to our agent on a sat but he could not work on preparing the offer till Sunday evening. we needed to get an answer by monday morning since we had to reply to the other people by Monday. So our offer was sent to the seller's agent on sunday evening and we requested a response by Monday morning. However our agent told us that he was unable to reach the seller's agent so was not sure if the seller's agent got the message or not that he had left on his voice mail. This got us worried as we were not sure if they had received the offer or not and we had to make a decission the next day. We had asked our agent to let us know when he was able to get in touch with the buyers agent. He did not bother to give us any information. At that point since we did not know if the seller's agent and the seller had got the message or not, we tried to call the seller's agent and left a message stating that there was an offer and we were hoping for a reply the next day. Also at the same time, we sent a message to the seller stating that the offer was sent, just in case they had not received it.
A few minutes later we got a call from our agent who was very upset about our trying to contact the seller and the seller's agent and told us that we were trying to push the seller into signing a contract so they had rejected the offer.
We went ahead with the other deal.
I was wondering if it is wrong to contact the seller or the seller's agent directly when we have a buyer's agent?
In our case the buyer' agent did not do the work in a timely manner, and when we tried to help him, we were told that it was inappropriate of us to try to contact the seller or their agent.
Is it truly inappropriate? We were planning to call our agent and let him know about our call but before we could he called us and told us that the deal was over.
Someone please let me know, how to deal with the real estate people.
Sorry, but expecting to get anything done here on a Sunday evening and to get an answer by Monday morning.....that is zero business hours alloted for. That is not really reasonable in a business world. It is also not appropriate for you to contact the seller. That is why their are agents. If it was a "For sale by owner" that would be a different story. The sellers are the ones who pay both agents, buyers do not. So, being very honest with you here, I am very surprised your agent is still working with you. I don't mean that in a snarky, nasty way, just being honest.
Agents are part of the process for a reason: To protect you and the seller to make sure everything is done on the up and up and everyone's interests are protected.
I am assuming you are from another state besides TN? Things do tend to take a bit more time here to get accomplished, it is a slower pace of life, this is one of those instances.
That was, indeed, a very short time frame (to put it mildly) and I can see why the sellers felt pressured. Even Saturday to Monday is short given it's a weekend and the sellers (or their agent) could be out of town. Texas doesn't have an official "expiration date" on offers (with what I think is very good reason when you consider what constitutes a contract), but you can withdraw it at any time up until all terms are accepted, in writing, by all parties, so that's protection for the buyer.
Also, why was the offer verbal? If your agent had simply faxed or emailed the written offer to the seller's agent, there would be a record that that had occurred and when and, if emailed, a receipt. A verbal offer is worth the paper it's printed on and is nothing more than "he said/she said" until it's in writing - it's not really an offer.
The seller's agent isn't supposed to talk directly to you if you have an agent of your own, and your agent isn't supposed to talk directly to the seller if the seller has an agent. (Rules are different in FSBO situations or when the buyer is unrepresented.)
I've been in TN for vacation and while it does a bit less fast paced than my home of suburban Chicago I can tell you from the perspective of someone that has been involved in real estate in my area for 20+ years that any offer assembled on any weekend day is never to going to get a real answer before EOD Monday -- and even THAT is a very hurried pace.
EVEN for the most affordable home with the MOST motivated sellers it is simply not reasonable to give the sellers anything less than 24 hours of a business day to make a preliminary decision. Five days is not uncommon, and some sellers would like more time than even that.
I have to think that the OP has learned one of the biggest pitfalls of directly contacting the seller -- they will feel pressured. Even if buyer is super accommodating, and only wants to make contact to reassure the seller that they thought the house is a perfect fit and they want to offer a full price the odds of things getting off on the wrong foot are VERY high...
Contacting the seller's agent is safer, but again you have to watch out for the TOES you might step on -- the agent-to-agent communication is part of the why the seller has agreed to list their home and hire a agent. If you as a buyer do not have confidence in your buyer's agent the seller's agent very well may interpret this as someone who is NOT a well prepared / fully qualified buyer. Once the seller's agent lumps you in the "flake" category they are unlikely to present your offer(s) to the buyer in the same light...
In the situation the OP presents, of having a DEADLINE on another house looming the buyer's agent ought to be aware of that and either be prepared to work on BOTH offers and make clear to BOTH seller's agents that there is some urgency in a way that serves all parties interests. If the buyer's agent in this case did not do this AND neither deal worked out then the fault would be in their court. As it seems like ONE of the deals is progressing the take away is a) when things work our you have to PUT ASIDE the deal that 'got away' & b) in the future realize that the folks that do this every day are the ones to listen to over your heart/head that may do these transaction just a few times over your whole life...
Just curious, why did you feel the need to meet the deadline. Did you believe that the seller had another offer? Did you think that the seller would no longer meet the terms?
Also were you dealing with more than one agent here, or working an MLS listed home via a buyers agent and a for sale by owner on the other?
Perhaps, your buyers agent was feeling that you were not quite loyal to them, so they weren't willing to change their plans to meet your (false) sense of urgency.
While I hear what others are saying about Sunday to Monday being short time frames, I know that many deals are made while the agents and principles are working into the wee hours of the morning putting things together.
I think the results clearly answer your question. You contacted the seller of one property and had your offer rejected. You stated that the rejection was because there was the perception that you were attempting to "push the seller into signing a contract so they had rejected the offer". My guess is that the offer was not the seller asking price or terms, but they could have countered your offer if they were comfortable in the way the offer was presented.
How should you deal with real estate people? Just like you would want to be dealt with in business. Honestly, fairly, and with respect.
I think the situation was inappropriate. Our MLS requires a minimum of 24 hours response time, but most do 48, and often 72 when those days span the weekends.
The sellers hired an agent because they didn't want to deal with buyers directly. I have had two buyers call my sellers while negotiating a contract and neither of them appreciated the call. In fact one of them asked me to step in because she felt the buyer was harassing her.
Funny how people are spoiled in todays world with instant communication and technology which spills over to their everyday affairs. Many people and agents still take time for family, church and don't believe in working 24/7 yet we expect instant answers to our calls and emails.
In many small towns the agents barely work on Saturday much less a Sunday. Even in the big city I try to do as little as needed on a Sunday to have a little personal time. After about 5pm Saturday will let my cell go to voice mail unless I'm in the middle of an offer.
We understand time is of the essence but people should understand events & decisions take time.
I guess I am the contrarian, here. I am available 24/7 when a client has something in play. I have absolutely nothing better to do than develop a strategy, write an offer and present it, post haste.
Local customs vary. I know that in some areas of the U.S., it is in poor taste to present an offer on a Sunday. Perhaps the OP is in one of those areas.
Reading between the lines, it sounds like the OP was attempting to play one offer off another, not too different than when a seller is fortunate enough to receive multiple offers.
Sounds like there was a counter to the first offer and there was a Monday deadline, to respond.
When serving as the listing agent, I do not react to verbal offers, regardless of the day of the week or time of day.
When a buyer contacts the listing agent /seller directly, it suggests one of two things.....the buyer is playing one offer off another or the buyer really wants this house. The party who wants the sale most is at a negotiating disadvantage.
I guess I am the contrarian, here. I am available 24/7 when a client has something in play. I have absolutely nothing better to do than develop a strategy, write an offer and present it, post haste.
Sometimes this works. What if the buyer agent had out of town clients come in and booked them for the weekend? What if it is his mother's 75th birthday party was Saturday night? There is ideal and reality. I am not going to say anything negative about the agent not being able to write the offer up "in a timely manner" because I think over the weekend, which tend to be busy this time of year, I think it is very possible that Sunday night might be the soonest. Now me...I have Docusign so I can have my clients sign online anytime, but I know many agents don't.
Ideally we can get those offers written up, but I'd like to think the buyer agent has more than one client and a family life in there somewhere.
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