Who's in "control": seller or listing agent? (buyer's agent, contract, title insurance)
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
What happens when a listing agent thinks he has a good offer contract for a seller, but the seller won't agree to the counter offer that the listing agent suggests they make?
(after home has only been on market for one month)
Does this happen often?
What about if the listing agent suggests a price reduction and the seller doesn't want to go along with it?
Is it normal for a seller to feel pressured to take a deal that he/she might think is still too generous for the buyer (just so agent can get a sale)?
ALSO, how normal is it for the listing and selling agents to "work behind the scenes" on a offer before the listing agent presents it to the buyer? (AND when it is presented, it is a full day after the contract says the offer expires???)
Ultimately the agent is the adviser and seller is in control. Sure, it happens that the seller makes decisions that go against the agents advise. In my experience it usually backfires on the owner but it's still their decision to make.
If the agent is suggesting the owner take it, there is a good possibility the agent feels that it will be the best offer. As far as "working behind the scenes", can you elaborate? I don't understand what you mean exactly but there is no reason that the agent shouldn't present the offer to the seller in a timely fashion, definitely a full day after the offer expires.
What happens when a listing agent thinks he has a good offer contract for a seller, but the seller won't agree to the counter offer that the listing agent suggests they make?
What the listing agent thinks (or the man in the moon) doesn't matter.
Quote:
Is it normal for a seller to feel pressured to take a deal that he/she might think is still too generous for the buyer (just so agent can get a sale)?
what kind of seller?
The hyper sensitive, doesn't want to accept the current market reality type, would probably associate such as 'pressure'.
Is that what you mean?
Quote:
(AND when it is presented, it is a full day after the contract says the offer expires???)
oh I bet the agents all just love working with you.
Sometimes the sellers don't realize the current market value of the house, and they think the offer is underprice... even the house stays in the market for a year with no price reduce, no promotion, nothing....
The listing agent is how ever at liberty to beat up the seller to get him to do the right thing. Sometimes he will beat up the seller to do the wrong thing. The seller has to sort it and do the right thing whatever the agent wants.
It is reasonably standard to revive expired offers with a counter offer or acceptance. Basically the seller action starts a new status in the deal.
Ok, so why did I receive the offer after it was expired?
The contract says this offer expires on Sunday 8/28. It was not presented to me until Monday afternoon!
Meanwhile, our agent says he was "working behind the scenes" to get it to where it is now (The buyers viewed the home on Saturday AM. We heard nothing until Sunday PM when our agent said we will be getting an offer on Monday. He says the buyer's didn't want their agent to write anything up until Monday. THEN I find out on Monday afternoon that the offer expired on Sunday. I think they wrote it on Saturday after seeing the home and then gave it 1 day, hence the Sunday deadline. So he wasn't being truthful here).
When we sold our last home in GA, any extension was signed off by everyone.
So technically, we would be countering on an offer that expired two days ago!!!
And he wants to counter, but he just called me now, 7 hours after I sent him my thoughts on the initial contract terms.
I know he wants to make a sale, but the property has only been listed for 1 month. (not that this matters, but it's not like it's been sitting there for 3-6 months).
He's trying to guilt me into rushing into taking this offer and said "if not, all my work would be for nothing." I understand that, but I shouldn't feel pressured to agree to a counter that I still think is too generous.
We bought this home on July 2010. We put $6,450 in improvements in (new drainfield, new gutters, and new custom-built shed).
There is a lot of conflicting info out there about prices. Did they drop 6%?? Did they hold steady? What about the value of our improvements (not like they are old junk - this was 1 year ago)
Also, the buyers want 3% towards closing ($4,800), a home warranty, $500 for repairs, $500 for termite repairs, owner's title insurance ($885) and so on.
There should not be any repairs nor termite damage, but if we allow $500 for repairs, they are going to find something and demand that it be done. Our agent wants it down to $250.
I suppose it is possible that the buyer's agent told your agent to expect an offer on Monday, and then decided to write it up sooner, and didn't tell your agent, so your agent didn't know to watch for it. It happens, especially on weekends.
If they faxed it to the office, and the office is closed on the weekend, and the agent didn't know to look for it, they wouldn't know about it until the secretary went in Monday morning. We've had that happen in our office before. Contrary to popular belief, real estate agents (mostly) do not spend 18 hours a day at their office. Even when working, the best agents are out in the field, not at the office. (Knowing the inventory is a big part of an agent's job, which requires actually going into houses)
But in today's age of technology, there is no reason the buyer's agent couldn't have sent it to your agent's email, or at least notified the agent that they had faxed in an offer. Definitely one agent or the other messed up here. But without knowing what communication took place, there is no way to know whether the screwup was your agent's, or the buyer's agent.
Many buyers these days are asking for 3% closing costs, and a home warranty, so those are practically expected. And I think the owner's title coverage is usally paid by the seller in my area, maybe not in yours. The repairs budget seems excessive to me though.
But bottom line is that if you don't want to write a counter, don't write it. It is your call. But if the house still hasn't sold next month, expect that the agent is going to want you to take a price reduction. An agent's time is their inventory, and if your house doesn't sell, they make nothing, but will have both time and money invested, and if they waste time and money on an overpriced listing, knowing it is overpriced, they will be working for free, or worse, throwing money away for nothing. No one likes to work for free, and agents do it a lot.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
