Is this illegal? (real estate, attorneys, house)

[chellamkottu]

This forums has been amazing to me in helping understand all the basics and then some when coming to buy our first house. We recently put pen to paper on a house we really loved and went just a little above our budget during the negotiations.

Few things to note before i ask the main question. We are signed with a buyers agent, our initial written offer was rejected with a counter and from then on we stayed in contact with our agent on improving the offer but we did not sign any new formal offer (i guess they were both negotiating verbally had about 3 counters). Before we gave our last and final. We were informed through our agent that there will be 2 other showings and they are not currently budging from their price. We were informed later that sellers accepted, we informed our agent that we would go a little higher if there still was a possibility for it, sadly it was too late but would let us know if something changed.

Something about the sellers agent did not sit right with us during our showings. One of my relatives called to see if the house was still available and was informed it was and can be shown this Sunday.

Is it even possible to show a house that has already accepted an offer and finished inspection? If not is what the sellers agent doing illegal? or just normal routine.

[starwind]

I am not shocked. I have seen this happen before and recent. Sadly some agents do anything to get the Max dollar. I'm not sure if it is legal or not though

[jande]

I think it is legal on Long Island to show a house at any point up until there has been a signed written contract.

[peabodyn]

Many accepted offers never make it to the contract stage for various reasons (inspection uncovers issues, people changing their minds, people not being earnest, etc etc). Realtors will continue to show a property until a contract is signed. Some realtors will mention that there is an accepted offer, others won't.

I don't think this is unscrupulous, it's just the selling agent protecting their client.

To a buyer, this situation illustrates how important it is to get to contract ASAP.

[DawnSells]

No, it is not uncommon to show. Some agencies will let the agent know that a) there is an accepted offer and no more shows b) accepted offer and no more showings c) house is still available (even if there is an accepted offer)

The seller's agent is looking to get the most amount of money for their client. If someone comes in with a better offer before the contracts are fully signed then they will. Stinks for the buyer. This is why agents try to rush to get to contract. A lot can happen within a few days.

I would definetly call the agent on why the house was still being showed if they were not accepting other offers. And I would not beat around the bush either.

Did you end up using this agent to buy the house that you are signing on now?

[chellamkottu]

Understood, did not know that once an offer was accepted a house would still be shown to everyone else. Thanks everyone

I guess what stood out to me with the conversation with my relative (had it on speaker) the sellers agent kept asking if he was an agent or buyer.

@DawnSells
I think you misunderstood we have a buyers only agent with a contract. We have not given an offer to another house.

[twingles]

Until you sign a contract, that house will be shown. It's in the seller's best interest.

[DawnSells]

Originally Posted by chellamkottu

@DawnSells
I think you misunderstood we have a buyers only agent with a contract. We have not given an offer to another house.

Got you. Now I understand.

[AndreaII]

Originally Posted by twingles

Until you sign a contract, that house will be shown. It's in the seller's best interest.

Our experience after we accepted an offer was that said offer and deal fell through 2.5 months later. Over those 2.5 months we kept showing the house because you never know if you really have a deal or not until the contract is signed. And in our case we didn't have a deal - our "buyers" were people who couldn't get a mortgage, and they walked away from three contract meetings.

[Elke Mariotti]

I was told by an experienced real estate attorney, that legally, the house could be shown until it closes, even though it's in contract!! (I don't know anyone who does it, but it's legal.)

However, there can be only one contract and of course that would have to be disclosed to any potential buyers.
Now more than ever, contracts fall apart for a number of reasons. The three major ones are the inability of the buyers to get a mortgage; another is discovery of lack of all necessary COs where the parties can't agree on how to best overcome that hurdle. Last but not least is the case where the appraisal comes in too low and neither party is willing to renegotiate.

Unless the buyer requests otherwise, I will continue to show a listing even though there is a "first accepted" offer; if the seller is my client, it's my job to get it sold for the best possible price and terms to a qualified buyer. Having a back-up offer is great for the seller (see reasons stated above)! Without a fully executed contract (which spells out not only the price but also the terms of the offer in detail), the seller doesn't truly know if the buyer will follow through with the contract and on what terms.

To avoid the situation where a buyer loses out to another, potentially more favorable, offer, we as agents, try to facilitate a prompt inspection (usually within 24-48 hrs) and try to move the contract drafting and signing along. After all, there are attorneys involved on both sides, and the response time isn't always what everyone hopes for . That window of opportunity makes it possible for other potential buyers to "mess up" the current deal