Rule #1 of Real Estate is to "Present all Offers". What happens when that doesn`t happen?

I absolutely hate to deal with Realtors that speak for their clients and not TO them. I would have done the same thing, no reason to upset the buyers, let the sellers counter first.

Missy,

Like you I don`t understand the logic of these type of Realtors. Present the offer and let the seller decide is our motto.

I had even worse scenario. The Agent sent me the fax telling me that the Seller does not even want to counter, as the price is that low.

The agent, however, forgot that he was too lazy even to come to show the home, and sent the Seller instead, and the Seller told the Buyer that he would consider her offer, which, she basically, had discussed with the Seller.

How do you like that?

Oh man, I hate this.  My often repeated words are "I would never presume to speak for my seller, please allow your sellers to speak for themselves."  I have a heck of a time keeping myself from knocking on a sellers door and introducing myself when things like this happen...but of course I have to refrain from doing so. 

I'm looking forward to hearing the outcome of this one!! .. THE RIGHT BUYERS are the ones who have money to pay for it and a desire to purchase it!!  IS this realtor NUTS????  6 months on the market and they are looking for THE RIGHT BUYER?  I'm just dumbstruck!   

Jon,

I don`t understand it myself. The home has been listed for 6 months, you have to believe the sellers are starting to wonder why?

Kris,

I once had to knock on a sellers door because their agent was away on a three week vacation and had nobody covering their clients.

Worse, the sellers were very upset to hear their agent was away for so long. They signed the offer and gues what?!

The agent called me to tell me about her dismay,that i would have the GALL not to wait for her to come back.Nice, huh?  

The seller needs to hear about these offers so they can find out the reality of the situation - that the house is priced too high.

This agent is definitely not working under our current market conditions and has bought into the Seller's dream world of what the house is worth.  I'll be curious to see where this ends up.

Who knows if she has been the reason they haven't sold. There may have been offers that were never presented.

Gail.

I believe this Realtor is looking for "Both Sides" of their listing.

The way I was spoken to,lead me to believe just that. 

Not an unusual negotiating technique, trying to get buyers to "negotiate with themselves". 

This listing agent is arrogant, self absorbed, myopic, unethical, defiant, controlling, autocratic, domineering, egotistic, . . . . .  shall I go on?????

Your transaction represents 90% of what plagues all ethical agents, those few who are so totally self absorbed that they don't give a second's thought to the needs of their client. 

Even a rediculous offer needs to be presented.  Unless the agent is the owner, they need to understand that real estate BROKERAGE means brokering a transaction between principals, not making decisions for a principal. 

Unless this person is a broker, I would probably be sending a faxed message to the broker asking them to present the buyer's offer.  If another offer comes in, things will just get worse. 

Scott - Amazing!!  In New York, we are obligated to present all offers, which I would imagine is the same everywhere else, as you mentioned.  In this situation, I would insist on being present while the listing agent presents the offer to their client.

I would have contacted my broker and asked him to either call the listing agent's broker or sit with me while I contacted the broker.  Florida law says that any and all offers must be presented unless the listing agent has it in writing to not present and if that is the case the agent must, by law, provide you with written proof to not present any offers.  No need to go any further.  It is illegal and unethical to do what that listing agent did.  Florida law also says the buyer and/or buyer's agent has the right to be present when the offer is presented.

I agree wholeheartedly with Lenn.  Take it to his/her broker.  We need to combat this insane behavior whenever we find it.  It's time the L/A had a refresher as to who the principal actually is. 

Just had another thought too.  I would forward the conversation to the ethics board or FREC.  It is idiots like that agent that hurt the entire industry.  Can you post this agent's name and contact info on here so we all know who gets the "Horse's Ass" award for January?

J&K,

Thank You for your response.

I`ll wait until the agent calls me today and see what transpires. 

Gary,

You`re right and that`s exactly what I plan to do if this agent doesn`t get back to me today!

JE,

I`m licensed in New York and it`s entirely different.

BTW, I`m from Brewster...

Lenn,

Like i mentioned, I truly believe they want to have "Both Sides". They don`t seem to care about their client,otherwise I wouldn`t have been "Talked Down" .

Scott - this is a HUGE pet peeve of mine!  I have had buyers with offers well below listing price.  As their agent it is MY DUTY to present that offer to the listing agent and it is THEIR DUTY to present that offer to the seller.  Some of the things that the listing agents have said to me aare beyond comprehension.  Is the offer not a vehicle to open the lines of communication?  We may not come to an agreement but until that offer is presented we will never know.

Not only do I believe that all offers must be presented, but I believe that they must be presented at the earliest possible opportunity. For me, that generally mean immediately. I think the only exception would be if the seller requested a specific process for submission, which I would make them put in writing.

I can't play those games...make the offer you think it best and it will wither be accepted...rejected or counter offered.

As usual, I agree totally with Lenn...her comment is precisely what I would have said. 

I had a deal blow up once where the listing agent was precisely in this mindset;  at the end of the day, my clients bought another home, eventually the listing agent was fired and replaced with a more realistic agent, and the house sold for $30,000 less than my buyers were willing to pay. 

Sometimes agents do not properly educate their sellers as to the realities of the market;  when agents say, "my seller is insisting on this price," I wonder how good of a job the agent has done in educating the seller in the first place. After all, that IS part of the job.  

Scott,  Holy Moly!  OK, after that conversation I would have been on the phone with the broker.  And if the offer was not presented in a timely manner, I would then be in touch with Professional Standards.  Unless that realtor has it in writing not to present such and such offers, then they have to present your offer.  Ridiculous!

Sue,

I`m a Big Boy who can handle my own issues. I`ve been around.:)

Neal,

I base the offers on closed sales, you don`t offer Full Price in this type of market,which is what this agent wanted.

Leea,

It takes all kinds to make a market.:(

Andrew,

I can always file a COE on the agent. Much better idea.

'AI,

Our job is to present all offers and they decide...

KM,

I`m with you...

CG,

100% correct. Dreamworld is two aisles down...") 

Marc,

Typical of a Realtor who`s lost touch with their clients.. I`ve seen it happen before.

Scott.

No question they want "both sides".  That's a given. 

I run into that very, very often around here, especially with the older agents who really don't approve of buyer agency, co-ops or much else developed over the past 15 years.

Kind of makes you wonder if he/she is actually presenting the offer? We all like to "think" everyone else abides by the rules...............!

This happened on the home I am living in.  The seller's agent did not present either of two offers I made including a full price offer.  She was a principal broker. 

It was a long story, but in the end I contacted the buyers directly, they accepted my offer and I am still here.  I immediately went down and got my real estate license and have prided myself on never allowing my clients to deal with stuff like that.

SCOTT:  It's not the job of the 'zany' real estate agent to be an 'advocate' for the home upon receipt of an Offer; his job is to PRESENT THE OFFER TO THE SELLERS--then, if he wants to advocate WHY his Sellers are countering with _____, that is fine!  Once again, a sign that it's time to weed out these unprofessional agents!

Wow...how frustrating! Can't wait to see how this plays out!

Scott,

I'll bet that this agent is trying to double end this one. I wonder if he thinks his behavior is in the best interest of his sellers?

Some agents live in a dream world.  They think the prices of several years ago  still exist.  I had one agent tell me that she herself lived in the neighborhood and the offer was to low.  I enjoyed the fact that the house sold 8 month later for a lower price than we offered and with a different agent.

It is the law here that we have to present every offer... regardless of what it is.  I have had agents tell me that they wouldn't even present something... until reminded of their legal obligation.  I used to have a letter here that required the seller to sign to say that they rejected the offer. 

I was once in the company of my friend, who is a top producer for his company. The agent called him and he had it on a speaker phone, so I could here the agent start explaining how offended the agent was with the offer, and my friend abruptly interrupted his monologue and said that he was not in this business to know what the agent feels, as this was irrelevant to the transaction, so he gave the other agent two options:

1. that he presents the offer to the Seller himself, and if the agent wanted to be present, that was fine.

2. Get the counter or rejection signed by the Seller, not the agent

Let me tell you, it took care of the business right away.

Scott, I'm sure we all have strong feelings about this. We can choose our clients but not the other Realtor unfortunately. Good reminder with what we deal with. Remind the other Realtor that you can present the offer if they don't - or call their Broker. Puleeeezzzzzzze......big problems can come up on this one.

I had an experience on the other side of the transaction where the buyer's agent wouldn't write an offer for the buyer.  At the time I was selling my own home and it had an accepted offer.  One day I had a floorcall from a buyer inquiring about a similar property.  During the course of the conversation he asked if I could check another address to see if it was still available.  The buyer informed me that he had looked at the home months before and had been interested but his agent told him that the sellers wouldn't be willing to...(and now I can't even remember what the contingency was, it's been 10 years) so there was no point writing, he thought that since more time had gone by if it was still on the market the seller might be willing to reconsider.  Well the address turned out to be my home which had still been available when he'd looked at it and the thing is, his agent never told me she her buyer was interested or asked me if I would be willing to do whatever it was that she told the buyer I wouldn't do, can you imagine?  I'm sure she never expected that little bit of info to get back to me.  I just told the buyer that the home had an accepted offer, but remember wondering if I should have filled him in on the truth, that he was basically lied to.

Scott,

Good scenario for discussion...I'm a firm believer in allowing the seller a short period of time to consider an offer...'shopping' my offer doesn't cut it! Thanks,   Fran

Fran,

In a market like this we can always locate someone who`s "Ready,willing and able"..

Beth,

It`s never a dull moment is it?

Teri,

It`s insanity when another Realtor decides to take it upon themsleves to call the shots for a seller without mentioning an offer to them.

Jon,

I have to allow someone 24 hours before i would consider doing that.

That is crazy that she was saying all that before she ever presented the offer. She was being kind of presumptuous. Perhaps, that is why it hasn't sold. 

It is amazing that some agents   like this are able to remain in business, presenting all offers is in his job description.

Scott... I'm impressed!  Kudos for keeping your head in a very trying and aggrevating situation.  Judging from your responses on here it sounds like you have kept your cool and used sound judgement by not making this situation into an adversarial matter with the other (very short-sighted and very ethically questionable) agent.  Rarely is aggressive behavior the best course of action to a successful conclusion.  There is always the opportunity to escalate this matter at some point and I think that giving the other agent 24 hours to come to his/her senses is a good approach.

I think sometimes when faced with other agents blatant disregard for rules, protocols, ethics guidelines, etc. that we immediately go into "attack" mode, and while it can certainly be justified in many cases, it is not always the course of action that is in our client's best interests.  Your professionalism and integrity shine brightly for recognizing that... especially in circumstances like you describe, where the "feel good" solution might be to "teach the other agent a tough lesson". 

Scott, there seem to be a number of agents who are either

(1) too lazy,

(2) looking for both sides of the listing fee, or

(3) too embarrassed to present a low offer.  None of these three reasons is sufficient justification for an agent not to present an offer to their client.

I HEAR YOU ON THIS ONE!!!!  LOUD AND CLEAR!!!!!  IT IS NOT OUR HOUSE PEOPLE AND IT IS NOT OUR MONEY (except for the commission of course)!

We always prepare our sellers for a very low-ball offer - then when we present it, we often hear that it wasn't as bad as they thought it would be. Always, always let your clients make their own decisions. We're here to advise them, to give them the facts so that they can make their own decision.

I had an agent refuse to present an offer.  I handed it to her, she looked at it, and said

"I'm not going to be bothered with this low of an offer. You should know better! Tell your buyers to get serious."  She got in her car and drove away.

7 months later, it sold for less than the offer.  I wonder what the sellers would think if they knew.

I don`t understand what the agent means with the "right buyer". in the same time The home has been listed for 6 months, he needs to present the offer and counter with full price if they want!

Scott,

I just hate when listing agents do that!!  It is not the agent's house.  When the agent give me their spiel, I just say remember, it is the seller's home, not yours, what is the seller's answer? 

I had a newer agent sell one of my listings and I thought it was strange that she called me and asked it would be "okay" if her buyer made an "offer"?  I said, Yes, get it to me straight away so I can go over it with my seller!!  When I asked her why she would call me and ask me that, she said she asked other listing agents and they told her not to even bother writing a "low" offer.  We made a counter, everyone was happy and had a great transaction!

I bet some of those sellers would be interested to know how their agents are representing them.  I bet most sellers have no idea what some of their listing agents are saying!!

Good post.  That is one of my biggest pet peeves!!

MM,

The "Right Buyer" meant both sides of the listing, they wanted me togo back to our buyer and ask for a "Full Price'.

In the meantime, I have yet to here back from the other agent.

On Monday, I`ll make it my business to contact the Broker of record for that office.

Hello All:

Here in sunny California we are to present all offer's regardless unless the seller has signed a letter that is on record that the listing agent can show to the prospective buying agent representative that the seller will not consider accepting any offer below a specific number or other term or conditions.  On that happy note we have quite a few bank owned properties in this area, and many of the listing agents are out of area, so they put a lock box on the property that is not accessible with our MLS lock box key. When you go to call the agent to obtain the combo to the lock the agent wants the buyers name, has he/she been approved by her/his lender before they will give out the combo or it a blinking nightmare trying to reach said agent, and if you are lucky enough to get access to the home, and write an offer good luck in getting it presented, Many of the agents that are handling REO's do not want to co-operate with another agent. I have presented two offers to banks via the agent handling the properties and both time the agents rejected the offers, I don't have a clue if they were even presented. My buyers and I were both frustrated. I went to the broker of this one agent and the broker said that he could not see that his agent had done anything wrong. So, my buyer on the one home was so angry that they filed a Lis pendens on the property. Now its a waiting game. It is a shame that some agents get their role as negotiator confused with being the owner. 

Lorraine

Lorraine

This happened to me when a buyer of mine drove by the house he was interested in in order to point it out to his son.  The seller saw them, and waved them over.  So, they chatted it up for a while, and between the two of them came to a price the seller would accept.  My buyer contacts me to tell me to write up the offer, that they have come to an agreement.  The next day I get a call back from the listing agent, with a counter offer.  My buyer was furious, thinking it was the seller who was countering.  We went back and forth on the phone with verbal counters until just about midnight, when by buyer through up his arms and called the whole thing off.  The listing agent then just about begged us to wait so that she can discuss with the seller.... apparently she took it upon herself to counter for him, rather than present the offer they had already verbally agreed to the afternoon prior.  This was a very, very expensive home for the area, and my buyer got so fed up he just walked away.  I think he may have even gone as far as writing a letter to the other agent telling her that she lost this deal for the seller, and he may have sent a copy to the seller.  He ended up purchasing in another county, so I lost the deal too. 

JK,

Does the word Advoacte ring loud and clear?

Hi Scott - unfortunately our profession is full of agents who put themselves in the way of a successful transaction.  Their egos seem to get in the way all the time, and it appears that this agent you've had to deal with is doing just that.

I just never understand why agents don't realize that we all need to work TOGETHER to put sales together and keep them together.  That doesn't mean to harm either client's position, it means to stop being antagonisitc toward the other side.  And to let the clients make their own decisions.

I hope this works out for you and your clients, whether it's this house or another one.
Ann

Ann,

Amen.  We are all in this together, it is a great business.  The goal is to make the seller happy with their contract, and the buyer happy with their purchase and facilitate it in the smoothest possible way!

Scott,

As a broker, I would hope that the broker of this agent would have expected a phone call (and hope you made this phone call).  This would be a violation of Georgia law as we are required to present all offers timely.........not to mention that it is in the seller's best interest to see an offer timely.  What if you had decided to withdraw the offer prior to the seller having a chance to at least see the offer and accept or counter offer.....

It's simple...You present the offer and allow the seller to decide ! End of discussion ! These types of Realtors get under my skin !

The last I checked the law says We are to present all offers in a timely manner !

Sounds to me this Realtor wants her cake and to eat it to with being on both sides of the stick !

The sellers agent is negotiating way too soon. It's up to the seller to decide how to proceed. Sellers get so emotionally attached (if this really is the case here) to thier house sometimes and it affects their judgement. They can take their cash and their memories with them to the next house!

One gets skinned if an offer is not presented. Kinda as simple as that. Verbal "temperture reads" are not offers, though we all do try to get them in writing, right?

Another good one Scott,

best 

Talk to their broker and insist that YOU want to represent your buyers and present an offer to the seller. The other agent can come along, sure, but you go and present the offer.

Scott, these so called agents do not need to be in our business. We are not the decision makers. Let the Seller Decide. I have always said I don't walk in your shoe. I guess this agent, don't list property unless he likes them as well.

Scott -- Unbelievable, I am interested to know how this turns out.  In Illinios all offers must be presented unless the seller has indicated otherwise in writing.  Buyers agents also have the right to present offers on behalf of their client.  Is that an option?  Makes you wonder if the sellers have a clue as to what is happening regarding their property.

This is why we have a bad rep to some people.  What a shame.  We have a lot more GREAT agents than poor ones. 

My sister-in-law told us that she had met a buyer for her house, in a supermarket, about a year AFTER she sold her house and the buyer asked why she had not accepted their offer.  My sister-in-law said she NEVER heard the offer.  The listing agent sold the house for less.  That was 15 years BEFORE I became an agent.

That would never happen again to anyone in my family.

The only time I really hated presenting every offer was when a piece of land I was selling had 10 offers on it in two days. The seller lived out of state and it was quite a chore getting all the offers to her....I had to draw up a spreadsheet to explain it all. Definitely earned my fee on that one.

I think a problem sometimes with listing agents is that they let their "offended" views take over the judgement of sellers, especially if the sellers want to counter offer. Too many times I have heard that the seller refuses to counteroffer because an offer was too low. I have to wonder if the listing agent is the one telling them not to do so. Why would you not counter offer? In this market, some buyers are just fishing to see if they can get a deal. Some will come up higher is only the seller will negotiate.

Wow, to even threaten to not present a contract because it's too low is a bit no-no in my book!  I know i've written about the difficulty of presenting low offers, but I would never think to refuse to even present it!

That's unbelievable.  I've never had a situation like that, but it looks like you handled it well.  As with all other states, in New Jersey all offers must be presented.  I've had Sellers tell me don't come to me with a ridiculous offer, but I tell them, by law, I must present all offers.  Then it's up to them to reject it or make a counter offer.  I look forward to hearing how everything turns out.

so how low was the offer?

This burns ya! I've had similar situations happen and I did learn from the experience. For some agents I will be present while my offers are presented and they will have very limited time to get me a reply! Sometimes learning hurts!

In our mls we are allowed to bypass the other agent if needed.

I see that as a regular occurrence regarding someone in our area. Either the offer gets held until something better comes along or they get to sell it.  Never mind the 5 p.m. deadlines for what ever day. You hear absolutely nothing back. No counter, not even, an are you crazy? I mean completely ignored.  You are just left dangling and to wonder. Because in this area there is a 50/50 chance the buyer personally knows the seller, They will call the buyer themselves even before we can step in.  Not long ago, one of the agents in our office was done that way. She told her buyer she had not gotten a response back as of yet and the buyer said I know it's a good offer and they should of accepted it based on conversations they'cce had with my family members. I am calling to ask why? The buyer calls back a few minutes later and tells the agent that they never received the offer. She calmly hangs the phone up, furiously stomps out the door and says "I"ll show them not to mess with me or my clients. LOL, a few minutes later the offer comes in as a signed contract before the agent makes it back to the office. Seems the seller beat her to the PUNCH!

What about the realtor that counters at the asking price? That cracks me up because my buyers don't know how to counter at that. They usually counter back at the first offer price and the other realtor counters back at the asking price. I've had buyers walk because they think the other party are idiots for not wanting to negotiate or at least try.

Real estate agents are not party to the contract, so they cannot speak for the Sellers or for the Buyers. All offers that are in writing MUST be presented.

Steve,

it all depends what sate you reside in,. In Florida we can write contracts,while in New York as a licensed realtor i`m unable to.