I received a notification this morning from my realtor that a home on which I placed an offer is ready to move forward. When we made the offer Monday night, there were no offers on the property. Now, there are enough that the bank has asked all bidders to give their highest and best offer. This smells unethical to me.
In defense of the realtors, they are probably not behind this. Mine is good enough to admit that I may already have the best offer, because the other one might be hugely lowball. He says the bank may have left instructions for the listing agent. While this does not free the listing agent from complicit behavior in what I believe to be pure fraud and deceipt, if he's right, at least the seller's agent isn't the brainchild.
I made my offers based on expectations set by the seller. My offers were all fairly based on the asking price, and all of them were above list (which just makes my skin crawl). I made the offers based on my ability to afford the home and the relative degree to which I value what they contain and would be comfortable living there. In every case I met their asking price. If the bank wants more money, they should list the houses at a higher price. This is not eBAY, and I am not going to put in a higher bid to get the house. It's just a house.
Offer and Counteroffer mean different things to me than to banks apparently. I offer a price less than what they ask and they counter with one with which they are comfortable. Now, instead of a counteroffer, to know where the bank stands, they ask me to stab in the dark and offer more. I should perhaps offer less... For all I know, I would be bidding against myself, which as we all know who use eBAY is against their terms and unethical.
Every REO comes with uncertainties. One reason I am not enamored with this house is that there was a plumbing leak which has not been rectified and which they may be reticent to rectify. Oh, and they had the gall to ask me to check YES/NO that I would pay the difference anyway if the appraisal came in lower. I will NOT buy a home for more than it appraises. Chase learned that already. The banks never lived in the homes, and they have no idea in what condition they really are, and yet they act as if every home were immaculate and demands the highest possible price based on comparables, when they have never actually seen any of the homes in comparison.
If this happens again, I will not dance. I gave you my best offer at the beginning, and if you were serious about selling me a house, you would give me a counteroffer like previous banks have on previous homes. Houses, like all other commodities, are only worth what someone is willing to pay for them.
Update 11:34 AM
A second house has also asked for 'highest and best.' Sigh. If you want to do that, just list the houses on eBAY.
In defense of the realtors, they are probably not behind this. Mine is good enough to admit that I may already have the best offer, because the other one might be hugely lowball. He says the bank may have left instructions for the listing agent. While this does not free the listing agent from complicit behavior in what I believe to be pure fraud and deceipt, if he's right, at least the seller's agent isn't the brainchild.
I made my offers based on expectations set by the seller. My offers were all fairly based on the asking price, and all of them were above list (which just makes my skin crawl). I made the offers based on my ability to afford the home and the relative degree to which I value what they contain and would be comfortable living there. In every case I met their asking price. If the bank wants more money, they should list the houses at a higher price. This is not eBAY, and I am not going to put in a higher bid to get the house. It's just a house.
Offer and Counteroffer mean different things to me than to banks apparently. I offer a price less than what they ask and they counter with one with which they are comfortable. Now, instead of a counteroffer, to know where the bank stands, they ask me to stab in the dark and offer more. I should perhaps offer less... For all I know, I would be bidding against myself, which as we all know who use eBAY is against their terms and unethical.
Every REO comes with uncertainties. One reason I am not enamored with this house is that there was a plumbing leak which has not been rectified and which they may be reticent to rectify. Oh, and they had the gall to ask me to check YES/NO that I would pay the difference anyway if the appraisal came in lower. I will NOT buy a home for more than it appraises. Chase learned that already. The banks never lived in the homes, and they have no idea in what condition they really are, and yet they act as if every home were immaculate and demands the highest possible price based on comparables, when they have never actually seen any of the homes in comparison.
If this happens again, I will not dance. I gave you my best offer at the beginning, and if you were serious about selling me a house, you would give me a counteroffer like previous banks have on previous homes. Houses, like all other commodities, are only worth what someone is willing to pay for them.
Update 11:34 AM
A second house has also asked for 'highest and best.' Sigh. If you want to do that, just list the houses on eBAY.
1 comment:
Sigh is right. I loathe the real estate game -- because that's exactly what it seems to be. (we just did the game and the dance in May when we bought this house). So frustrating and annoying to be faced with since we too will not play that game.
Post a Comment