In today's world of residential sales you may find yourself waiting and waiting to get an answer on an offer from a seller and then approval from the bank. As a buyers agent, I submit the offer and hope to get an answer within a couple days or a week. The seller may be all in favor of the offer but may not have the $$ to pay off their mortgage. This is when we hope that the bank will agree to take less than the amount the current seller owes, also known as a short sale.
As a buyers agent, many times there is no reply from the owner. The listing agent may not give written feedback because the seller cannot agree unless the bank agrees to take less. In Ohio all offers must be presented to the owner. Many short sale listing agents do violate this law.
Suspicion quickly leads many agents and buyers to believe that their offer never was presented or it was shopped. If I as a buyers agent press for an answer, the listing agent could avoid me completely. This would not be ethical but it would take allot of time and effort to file an alleged ethics charge. If there is no violation then I really look like a fool, as well as having burned a relationship.
What to do! Your thoughts? Would you do anything different?