Sometimes in Short Sales... after an offer has been accepted as primary....buyers come out of the woodwork and offers are written higher than the primary offer submitted. It is our responsibity, as agents for the seller, to submit the other offers in a secondary position to the lender. All listings always include the famous disclaimer:
"All Offers and conditions are subject to approval of the lender."
Lenders of course, want to re-coup as many dollars as possible within appraisable guidelines, As a matter of professional and ethical courtesey....we let the agent who has written the primary offer know that other secondary offers have been received. To me, this is an indirect "Agent Suzy" kind of heads up. If I were the selling agent and heard that secondary offers were received....and I knew that my buyer had not written the strongest offer I had ever seen...I may be tempted to withdraw it and moooove on to a listing with less competiion or a lower price to secure the buyer a home. We can't of course, tell Suzy or any other agent the amount...the number of offers....if the offers were for or over the asking price...listen carefully..."...Other secondary offers were submitted."
Think hard...would a listing agent submit other offers that were less money...had less of a down payment...were less qualified...Hmmmm. Maybe, as a "Plan B"....but Agent Suzy, as a buyer's agent, I would think hard about looking at what else the market had to offer to insure a new roof over my buyer's head. Because your offer was first...doesn't mean your buyer is next in line to own the house.
Sally K. & David L. Hanson, ABR, CDPE, CSS, e-Pro,ILHM, REDS
Thanks for the hint. You are right. The agent has a chance to withdraw and move on .
How true Sally and David,
Up here in Montreal, we also have this disclosure regarding other offers. And at that point, the buyer usually has the opportunity to revise their bid should they want to.
Revise or walk would be my unsolicited advice...but Suzy is Suzy.....
Sally and David, this is so true with short sales. Suzy Agent should take the hint.
Great Post. It is definitely a Buyers Dilemma, when other offers are submitted behind theirs, with the possibility of being better and them losing valuable timing waitiny.
Thanks for sharing,
Matt Naumann
You would think...Suzy would either buy a sharper pencil or an eraser and find a better choice for her buyer....
Good informative post sally and David. I guess the old caveat to "put your best foot forward" must mean different things to different agents; and some get it while others do not.
When ego geys put ahead of a buyer's needs...the end result can be...no house.
Ah that pesky Suzy again. She keeps putting her pretty little nose in to everything doesn't she. So do you think she has a clue? Question- so if the bank counters her offer, what will she do? Walk or run or what or if it is under the price of a back up do you go there? Not sure how you guys work it with your laws up there??????????????
now here's a suprise....Suzy is a little farther south of the list price tahn she should be..it's let's make a deal of course...and the other is far north...bank can and will counter and Suzy will fade into the sunset until the next transaction where she "knows best." !