.....and I was naive enough not to recognize this for over a day.
But, please, restore my faith in humanity and tell me I'm wrong. Here's the story:
My wife and I bid on a short sale (actually 2 of them next door to each other and both listed by the same agent). One of them, we were told, had a high offer that was all cash (and $50k more than our offer). Oh well, if they want to over pay, they're welcome to do so.
For the second house, the listing agent came back to our agent and said that there was a high offer, and would we want to beat it. We told our agent our highest amount was $X. When she offered (orally) $X to the listing agent, he said "no, that's too high". He talked her down $6k. We thought, "sweet, we'll pay less!" Our written offer was that lesser amount.
Then yesterday we learn that the winning offer was $1k more than ours (and a very "round" number).
My thought is that the listing agent or someone under his broker represented the buyers. Hence, more commission for he or the broker (or both). And, chances are, the winning amount was the max $$$ that their clients were willing to pay.
I know ours was just an oral offer, so probably no legal responsibility to pass in onward to the bank. But I'd love to find out if this guy represented both parties so maybe the bank could learn of this and not give him any more properties. Is there any way to learn this info?
And, as an aside, we offered about 10% more than I feel the house is worth. Yes, I know this is stupid. Frankly, I'd rather lose out to house depreciation rather than my savings losing to inflation.
But, please, restore my faith in humanity and tell me I'm wrong. Here's the story:
My wife and I bid on a short sale (actually 2 of them next door to each other and both listed by the same agent). One of them, we were told, had a high offer that was all cash (and $50k more than our offer). Oh well, if they want to over pay, they're welcome to do so.
For the second house, the listing agent came back to our agent and said that there was a high offer, and would we want to beat it. We told our agent our highest amount was $X. When she offered (orally) $X to the listing agent, he said "no, that's too high". He talked her down $6k. We thought, "sweet, we'll pay less!" Our written offer was that lesser amount.
Then yesterday we learn that the winning offer was $1k more than ours (and a very "round" number).
My thought is that the listing agent or someone under his broker represented the buyers. Hence, more commission for he or the broker (or both). And, chances are, the winning amount was the max $$$ that their clients were willing to pay.
I know ours was just an oral offer, so probably no legal responsibility to pass in onward to the bank. But I'd love to find out if this guy represented both parties so maybe the bank could learn of this and not give him any more properties. Is there any way to learn this info?
And, as an aside, we offered about 10% more than I feel the house is worth. Yes, I know this is stupid. Frankly, I'd rather lose out to house depreciation rather than my savings losing to inflation.