Dear Edith: After looking
at a house a second time, I told my agent I would like to make an offer on it the next
day. That evening my agent said the listing agent had told her that there was another
"very good" offer being prepared. My agent suggested I write a contract
immediately before the other one could be presented.
Instead of trying to offer the price and terms I wanted, I was convinced that in order to
have my offer accepted, I should offer $500 over the asking price. This was accepted by
the sellers.
What are the chances that either agent duped me? - E.K.N.
Slim.
It really is sometimes advisable to make an offer for more than the asking price,
particularly when property is newly listed at a no-nonsense figure.
Of course I can't know whether any particular person is honest, but consider this: by the
time the commission was divided among listing office, listing agent, selling office and
selling agent, "your" agent probably stood to make about $7 if you paid $500
more. Hardly seems worth lying about.
Neither one was your agent, by the way, unless you had specifically hired a buyer's
broker. Both were working for the seller. Both agents had special legal
obligations to the seller, including obtaining the best price for the house. They were
also, however, required by law to deal honestly with buyers.
This Homebuyers Tip was excerpted from:
Dear Edith...On Real Estate, by Edith Lank, Longman Financial Services Publishing, 1990.
ISBN# 0793100070Complete our brief questionnaire, and we will send you our Houston relocation package, and any other
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