Is this a lowball offer?

[Delron]

Originally Posted by skchi

Thanks for the advice. I totally agree with the conflict of interest with the buyer's agent. Our agent has been very helpful with some issues, but we're definitely aware that her personal interests don't always align with ours. However, I couldn't imagine buying without an agent. They have access to so much more information than we can get.

We spoke to our agent today, and we found out that the seller countered our offer. Their counter was still higher than comps, but much, much closer than the listing price. She also said that she no longer thinks we should submit a final and best offer right away. We don't know why she gave us that advice last week, but she's backed off. So, we're just going to chalk that up to a momentary lapse of judgment and let it go.

Because she originally figured you for suckers and wanted you guys to jump in without thinking things through instead of playing the game with a cool, rational, sensible head. Now she has to backpedal to make sure you don't kick her to the curb for her awful advice.

I wouldn't be surprised if the sellers/listing agent don't come crawling back in a couple of weeks to a month begging you guys to come back and negotiate "in good faith".

[skchi]

Originally Posted by Delron

Because she originally figured you for suckers and wanted you guys to jump in without thinking things through instead of playing the game with a cool, rational, sensible head. Now she has to backpedal to make sure you don't kick her to the curb for her awful advice.

I wouldn't be surprised if the sellers/listing agent don't come crawling back in a couple of weeks to a month begging you guys to come back and negotiate "in good faith".

That could very well be the situation. Our other thought was that maybe the listing agent is a bully and made our agent feel like an idiot and act irrationally last week. Either way, she shouldn't have suggested that to us. Other than that incident, we think she's been giving us good advice.

The negotiations are basically falling apart right now. We countered with comps as justification, they threw back a random, high number with no justification at all. There was some talk between our agents regarding what the seller "needs" to get, which is just irrelevant to us.

We've sent back one more counter, which is still in line with comps. They probably won't go for it. Whatever - thanks to what their listing agent said about our first offer, we spent the weekend convincing ourselves that we don't care if we get this house.

[KCfromNC]

The next step is to ask your agent to work up a new batch of houses for you to look at. If your agent is talking to theirs as much as it seems, that might motivate the seller to be a bit more reasonable.

[GreatGreenvilleGuy]

Originally Posted by skchi

Thanks for the advice. I totally agree with the conflict of interest with the buyer's agent. Our agent has been very helpful with some issues, but we're definitely aware that her personal interests don't always align with ours. However, I couldn't imagine buying without an agent. They have access to so much more information than we can get.

We spoke to our agent today, and we found out that the seller countered our offer. Their counter was still higher than comps, but much, much closer than the listing price. She also said that she no longer thinks we should submit a final and best offer right away. We don't know why she gave us that advice last week, but she's backed off. So, we're just going to chalk that up to a momentary lapse of judgment and let it go.

There should be no conflict of interest. Once you're signed up as a client the agent's duty is to look out for your fiduciary interest beyond theirs. This is agency law. And a few thousand or even tens of thousands in a price doesn't make enough of a difference for mostly any agent to try to mis represent your interests or try to make more money by making you buy at a higher price. It's not worth the risk of lawsuit or losing future business over a couple of bucks. At least not for most agents. There is always the other option. You as the buyer can tell your agent not to accept the fee from the listing agent and you can pay them yourself! Someone has to pay. Buyer agency is relatively new. BAck inthe day you wouldn't have ANY representation looking out for your best interest.