can the selling agent say there are multiple offers when there really isn't?

[97guns]

i just had my offer accepted for a rental unit sfr . i had offered $5k below the asking price and the selling agent asked for best and final offers because of multiple offers coming in for the property. i signed a multiple offer & aknowledgement form from the selling agent but im wondering if the selling agent could lye about having multiple offers. i came back with their asking price and it was accepted in less than 24 hours, this is in california. thanks

[rvolk75]

The listing agent can tell you anything you want. If it's not in writing, it's not part of the rules.

[JennSellsFast]

They're just using Sales Tactics 101. If your clients really wanted the home, then technically they didn't over pay for it. You did your job. As an Agent, you can only react to the information you were given.

[SCP]

You could have asked to see the other offers for verification.

[Dan Connolly]

I don't think any listing agent is going to show other offers, around here that is prohibited, because it essentially turns it into an auction. You would have an unfair advantage in that you had seen the competing bids.

What does it really matter? Aside from the ethical issues of the lie (which suck BTW), it doesn't have to affect your purchaser. Sometimes in a multi bid they are all under list and sometimes they are all over. Your purchaser should not let the pressure affect how they negotiate, or what they offer.

I used to work with an agent (for a short while) who did that, and the first offer would withdraw about 50% of the time and we weren't left with anything.

[AnnAnderson1015]

Dan, it's the same way where I am at too. You can't show completing offers.

I would hope that agents follow the code of ethics and act honestly with each other and the public. But maybe that only happens in a real estate utopia.

[scottiegrace]

It's not very ethical to say that you have phantom offers when you really don't and you can get a bad reputation in a smaller real esate board for doing so. News travels fast here in Halifax. We have a clause in our seller brokerage agreement that authorizes the agent to inform people about competing offers should there be any. This takes the onus off of the agent as the seller specifies what they want to happen in this case. I usually tell them it is in their best interests to do so.

[OaklandHomes]

I've heard many agents say " I am expecting 2..4..etc. offers by the end of the day" when there is a deadline for offers. Many times I'll not submit on the deadline day and then send a lower offer the next day. You'd be surprised how many listing agents call me back to say I was the only offer.

[97guns]

well on a home that im closing on the asking price was 99,500 and i made an offer for 95,000. the next day my agent said that the selling agent had contacted her and that she is looking for best and final offers. i reoffered at 97,000 and my agent submitted it but they accepted the initial offer of $95,000 ?????? sometimes i think the selling agents are playing games, coments, concerns ?

[Malok]

Price isn't necessarily a person's sole motivation.

Closing dates, possession after closing, pre-approvals, cash deals, less/no contingencies, etc, etc can be an important part of whether a deal is more, or less, acceptable relative to another offer.