Agents Faking Multiple Offers - Liar, Liar, Pants On Fire!!
As Suze Orman would day: "Don't do it, don't do it, don't you DARE do it!"
I can't tell you how many times in the last few months I've written offers for buyers and then the listing agent tells me there are multiple offers on the property when I know darn well there are not.
An example would be an offer I wrote for a client where the listing agent stated there were multiple offers, some over asking price.
My first indication of something rotten in Denmark was that my client wrote just under asking and we went through a series of counter offers for a week, which ended up in my client getting a final counter at asking price.
Believe it or not, we opened escrow, and just as fast as we opened escrow, we ended up cancelling escrow due to contractual discrepancies that the listing agent refused to acknowledge.
Anyway, my client, being as motivated as he is, went immediately back out with me to look at other properties and we got an accepted offer on another property.
Meanwhile, over the course of the next 2 weeks, the listing agent kept coming back to me trying to negotiate a deal on the old property.
WHAT HAPPENED TO ALL THE MULIPLE OFFERS? AND WHY ARE YOU NOW TRYING TO NEGOTIATE A DEAL UNDER ASKING WHEN YOU HAVE OTHERS OVER ASKING?
To me, this is a prime example of mis-truth and deceipt ending up coming back to bite the listing agent in the a$$.
It could have ended up in a closed transaction for this listing agent if he would have just put it out there and not try to be a weasel.
NOTHING GOOD CAN EVER COME OF A TRANSACTION THAT STARTS OUT WITH DECEIPT!
Just a word of advice: Do NOT fake multiple offers! Be a straight shooter and everything will be just fine. It's when you try to pull this kind of stunt that everything starts to get dirtied up. In more ways than one you'll end up getting nailed by the powers of the universe!
Hi Ralph, there's one particular agent in my area that ALWAYS have multiple offers on their listings! That's their standard MO and I get tired of hearing the same script every time I call. Glad your client moved on and found another property quickly.
Erika,
So there ya go. That's a prime example.
It sounds like that agent already has a bad rep and right off the bat other agents probably dont' want to work with them if they have a choice.
Hi Ralph - We're seeing this much more than we have before and it's an amazing risk those agents are taking, trying to look like big-time negotiators. Aside from the deception and lying, they're doing some real violence to the concept of fiduciary duty and their seller's best interests.
Ralph, Glad you are representing your clients and their interests in a positive and honest manner. They are looking to you for guidance and it sounds like you are more than able to lead them in the right direction. Keep up the good work!
The agent got what he deserved, but I feel sorry for his sellers. They probably have no idea that he's playing games with their future.
What happened to the Code of Ethics....yikes...why would anyone fake it?
If people who lie got nailed then there would be a lot of Realtors walking around looking like porcupines. Why lie about anything?
I feel sorry for the sellers too - the agent thinks they are a g andood negotiator, but really they are unethical, untruthful and not working in their clients best interest. Not only that but they are giving agents a bad name. We don't need people thinking we are sleazy and have no integrity. It's too bad. -Kasey
Ralph - Agents get reputations for honesty or the opposite. It really makes a difference especially in a situation where you truly have a multiple bid scenario. In a buyer's market I had three bidders for a property. We were able to move from one buyer to the next, because I had a reputation for honesty. The third buyer walked away with the home, but not until the first buyer got freaked out by her financial advisor about buying another home before she had sold her current home (even though she could afford to carry both) and the second buyer had an unexpected change in their personal situation. The third buyer actually referred a client to me even though she was furious at me at the time for being #3.
There is an agent in our small town of Vernonia who used to sound like a real go-getter and had everyone in her grips, until our office started really listening to her conversations on the phone. The principal broker finally had it and fired her a$$ (as you so beautifully put it). She is still doing biz and has been with two other brokerages in 6 years, I think it is. It's a small town, and one would think that it would "get around" that she is a liar. I refuse to do business with her if at all possible. Lying is one of my least favorite characteristics in ANYONE.
Ralph...unbelievable what some agents will do...suggested this one!