You did the right thing Neal. Presenting both offers is what you have to do and letting both agents know they are in a multiple offer situation is fair to all. Sleep well!!!!

Neal, I've been on the other end of a verbally negotiated offer before and came out the loser in a similar situation.  I no longer negotiate verbally, even if that is what the other agent wants.  I want everything in writing or else I'm not doing MY job for MY client.  I can understand the other agents frustration - a done deal was more than likely communicated to his client and now he has to go back and say "Sorry, they are selling to someone else".  Not a good position to be in.

Monika,

Thats what I think too.

Lisa,

I never did say the seller took the second offer but it looks like it may end up that way from what my partner told me.

Neal - Of course you did the right thing...Why are you even questioning this?

Sandra,

Not questioning it...I just was curious how others view that situation...

Hi Neal,
Yes, agree.  Present both offers, inform all parties there are two offers on the table.  Sellers' decision.  

You know what you're doing...and ...doesn't that kind of situation irk you? There are definitely good and bad in all walks of life....and obviously you are the one on the right side of the tracks :)

Neal, that is an uncomfortable situation to be in.  I am sure that was a tough phone call for your partner, and the other Realtors response did not make it any easier.  I can understand the other Realtors frustration, but you had to do what was right in the representation of your Seller.

Neal-I agree with the previous posters.  Job well done.  You have to do your due diligence and present both offers.  Even if your sellers aren't set-up with email/fax capabilities.  You performed your professional responsibility by contacting all agents involved.

Neal - I stay away from just verbal offers/negotiations for this reason. You just never know. And while the agent THOUGHT he had a deal, without a signed written agreement it's not over...Given the market, though, you can see how he would have felt that it was a done deal. But you have to do what it best for YOUR client, not the buyer's. Being fair to all parties feels right and ethical to me.

I hate the way some banks these days are dealing with offers on short sales and only reviewing one by one in some cases, and not necessarily the highest or best.

Jeff 

Our state law states that we must present all offers immediately.  To hold one back would not only be unethical, but against the law and grounds for our license to be put at risk.  You guys did the right thing by letting them know there were multiple offers. 

What if the shoe were on the other foot and the buyers found a better home?  They could withdraw their offer of the seller hadn't signed it.

Neal: If I had a dollar for every time an agent said something wacky or got it wrong, the dollars would probably about equal the number of agents who have come and left our MLS in the past three years.

Neal - If the offer of the 1st agent is accepted I wish you luck this could be a long road to settlement based on how he is acting now.

Cynthia,

That's right without our influence..only our suggestions if they ask us. They are both cash deals so it was just a matter of the terms and conditions.

Sally,

Well sometimes it is tempting to add feelings into the deal with the other agent but after what I just went through with another agent who was so cold on an offer we put out there...now I can see the light.

George,

Not uncomfortable to me..I told my partner not to think about how nice the agents based on the deal...we have to think of the client first. I told the agent plain and simple that it didn't matter to me who gets the deal...the seller picks the best deal suited to their needs.

Garrick,

Unfortunately our client is very old and partially not able to see and needed it to be sent this way...that was the deal when we signed him up.

Jeff,

Shorts are all treated the same..they sit on the same pile..lost mitigation doesn't care...they go file by file as they come in from what I hear.

Randy,

Same in our state...exactly...I told my partner the buyer could walk away in a second even if it was signed..

Matt,

Who would have thought we would get a multiple offer after none for so long.

Nannette,

Supposedly he stopped before speaking the wrong language again

Neal, our contracts say we will present any and all offers. If another one comes in, we inform the first party to see if they want to up the price, as the 2nd offer knew to give both parties a chance. Then we work with the sellers to decide which is best for them including not only price but terms and  conditions.

Missy,

I wouldn't even go there by asking them to up the offer....because we didn't want a bidding war...also not to make then come up just to get the price up we could be lying...I'd rather just tell the agent we had the other offer for more and let them decide...they should ask the buyer what they want to do...not us. To me that would be considered influence and I won't get caught in the middle of that for a reason from a past experience.

NEAL - ALL offers have to be presented here.  We have an extra step in the offer process in the form of a sales binder.  When the buyer signs the binder, it gets sent to the seller.  Once it's accepted, the real contracts are drawn up.  Even if the buyer has signed the contract and given earnest money, there is no deal until the seller signs.  The other agent is being very unprofessional.  You did the right thing.

Adam,

I remember when I sold RE in your area back in the mid 90's I never saw a contract...the attorneys put them together...only earnest money deposits....the bottom line is until the seller is the last one to fully execute...there is not deal. Funny how we didn't expect multiple offers in this market and now we get them...thanks

Neal, After meeting you a couple of times and speaking to you on the phone several times I find it very hard that you bit your lip....lol  just kidding.  Don't you just love people?!?!?!

I thought of a few things that I must take into consideration here in Illinois.

First, we cannot tell the other agent about the existence of a second offer without the seller's permission to do so. So I would have had to contact the seller, explain that another offer was coming in, tell them the pros and cons of informing the first agent (could scare off first buyer or could encourage them to bring their highest and best, for example), and allow them to make a decision about whether or not to inform the first agent. For that matter, it would be the seller's decision whether or not we should tell the second agent about the existence of the first offer! There are pros and cons with that decision as well. It's not about courtesy to the agents involved, it's about what the seller's want to do and how they want to handle it. Tell them both, tell neither of them, ask them to both submit highest and best, reject one and counter the other, reject both...yada yada yada.

Second, even if the first offer was signed, sealed and delivered, it's not a done deal until the contingencies (mortgage, inspection, attorney approval, whatever) have been satisfied. In most cases, the seller wants to continue to show the property and would certainly wish to consider other offers, even if they were to become simply back up offers. It is our obligation to inform the seller of the existence of any and all offers and it is always the seller's choice (within legal guidelines) of how they wish to handle it.

Neal, It's simple. If it ain't signed and delivered it ain't a deal. You done good.

Very good Neal. I can understand how the public thinks that if they are first in line they have to be dealt with first, like a pecking order somehow. That's where things get tricky, they probably think that if they are refused then they have the 'right' to renegotiate their first offer ( although we always ask - is that your final offer, but they don't get it ) and then when the second offer comes in they don't realize, accept the idea, or don't want to hear about how it has to be done, by law to keep our license. You did well, as I would expect from you. Too bad with all the training that is given to the agents to get the license they revert to thinking like the general public when trying to 'negotiate' their contracts with other agents.

What you did was the right thing. I have been on his side of the table before, and I understand how multiple offers work.

You did the right thing! You must present any and all offers to your client. A verbal offer is risky and you never know until that contract is signed. You were working for your client and nobody else. Way to stand your ground and set things straight !

Neil, I too have been in similar situations as We are in the vacation home market and have out of state buyers and sellers that are being communicated with verbally at least initially. You did the right thing for your seller, and since you don't work for either of the buyers you have to let the chips fall where they may, let the best deal win.

My guess would be inexperience on the other agent's part.

I see nothing wrong with what you did. You're working for the best interest of your client. Nothing less.

Neal,

WOW 2 Offers How Great is that... We have to present all offers as well. Maybe the other agent is psychic

Hi Neal,  Sounds like the irony here is that the professional courtesy of your call was met with hostility and unprofessionalism.  The other agent probably told his client it was a done deal; when he got your call he probably knew you were right and he was wrong but didn't want to admit it to himself or his client.  100% you did the right thing, including your courtesy call even if it wasn't met with the proper response!  Cheers, Harley

Hi Neal -- I think this agent was uninformed and over zealous!  1.  Verbal offer for real estate hold no weight legally -- statute of fraud requires a written offer 2.  Unless specific instructions from the Seller, all offers must be presented 3. Under the new NAR guidelines, offers are not confidential.  Bottom line, you did the right thing --I always tell buyers until we have a signed contract back, it is not 100% that you have a deal.

Neal- I would agree with you. We are to present all offers regardless of what was verbally said, and this other agent should have known better! Good for you!

BTW- Dennis says hello.

Neal,

I applaud you for your ethics, specifically, your statement that you would never hold back an offer in this type of a situation, even if you had both sides.  As a buyer's agent, I have dealt with agents who will hold back offers in this type of situation, especially if they are working both sides.  When dealing with certain unethical agents and out of area sellers, I will overnight my buyer's offer directly to the seller, with a courtesy copy to the listing agent.  This way, I can rest assured that my client's offer sees the light of day.  Unfortunate, but true. 

Neal~ I mostly sell land, and I must have the same clients as you....no fax, no email, and contracts either get sent to the local KINKO, I drive them out of town, or they're over-nighted.  Anyway, I have twice been in a similar situation......Once I had listed 13 acres on a beautiful hill.  We got an offer, I presented, and we countered.  Before they got the counter back we had another offer......so I had to present and he accepted the second one.  I dreaded making that call to Agent #1, and sure enough she suggested I do XXX, and I politely told her I could not.

It's hard sometimes to deal with the other Agents that want you to do xy or z because they messed up something.  The first Agent had taken too long to send the counter back, then tried to say I didn't check we had multiple counters.....and at that time we didn't.....but she had to go tell her clients they lost their dream property.  I didn't envy her, but my duty was to get the best deal for MY client, just like you.

Neal, There is only one way in my book to deal with this situation and that's the way you handled it. That agent needs to retake some Real Estate courses. :0)

I guess he assumes he knew what was in your listing contract. However, it's your client's best interest that you are protecting.

You may just have an agent (first offer) being pushy by telling you how to do your job.  I've seen it before myself.  You stood by your guns and did the right thing.  Assuming what is in your listing agreement is just a tactic to get you to do what they want you to do - present their offer without the second one.  Again, you did the right thing...

We have a responsibility to tell and present all offers to our clients and in this case it was not convenient for the other agent so they were trying to find a way to encourage you to do something that was not n your sellers best interest. Good Job.

Neal,

I agree that witholding the other offer would have been against every ethics and moral clauses in the Realtors code of ethics, Real Estate Principals and just your own good conscience. You did the right thing and there is no such thing as a legitimate offer until escrow is opened and the buyers deposit is in.

I'll be curious to see which offer got the acceptance and how the other agent handles it if his didn't win. 

But I think you did the right thing too.  I always tell my buyers that just because we have a verbal doesn't mean it's a done deal. 

Sounds like you did the right thing.  I know that we would have done the same, except that I may have informed both buyers agents that we were in a multiple offer situation and that if they wanted to modify their offers, now was the time.  In NH, we are required to get the seller to sign as to whether or not we disclose the existence of other offers.  We counsel our sellers that this is a good thing as it generally would result in a higher sales price in these types of scenarios.  If the seller refuses to allow us to disclose this fact, we would not be allowed to tell that we have another offer.  In your scenario, we would have just submitted both offers without telling either buyers agent about the other.  You may be surprised that here in NH it is legal for us to disclose to other parties what is contained in offers UNLESS there is a confidentiality agreement.  I honestly don't know of anyone that actually does this, but it's legal!  Nice post.  Thanks!

Neal I agree with BB on this one- it must be signed and delivered and accpeted by BOTH parties to be a real deal.- you HAD to present the other offer- Good job!  Good luck and sell well!

Until there is a signature on the contract accepting the offer, there is no deal. In our State, there is still no deal until the Sellers Disclosure is signed off by both sides, as well as the legal description. You did the right thing, the agent was being an idiot.

You're required to present all offers through the end of escrow here in CAli, and there is no such thing as a verbal contract.  It all has to be in writing and accepted. That other agent needs to read the listing agreement contracts (blank ones) to make sure they are doing their best for their clients...oh, and take an ethics course.

Right on Neal. Of course you did it right. We are required to present all offers, but the language is "as soon as practicable". So far, that has always been immediate for us.

cheers 

Neal,  I have been in both positions.  You don't like it when you think you have a deal, but the law is the law.  Our disclosures that we have our clients sign AT THE BEGINNING of each transaction says no verbal agreements are binding, everything must be in writing. The other agent knows this is this true.  You must present all offers to the seller, that is also the law in my state.  you were just being courteous to the other agent by even letting them know the other offer came in.  If agents have been frustrated in the past, I just say if the shoe is on the other foot, please tell me how you would handle it?  We all know what the answer is.  You did the right thing!!

Hey Neal the REAL Deal!  You did the right thing - and that other agent had no right to do and say what he did to you.  WAY out of line.  Sounds like he needs to go back for some basic real estate training.   Imagine what that guy might be like to have to work an entire sale with - yuk!

Ann

Matt,

Yes Matt...I just love people:)

Kelly,

I think ours is different from yours.

BB,

Exactly...signed sealed and delivered

Richard,

For this reason every offer that isn't signed or fully executed are still active in my opinion.

Dwayne,

I think most people including myself have been there.....

Wow...great turnout! 

Hello Everyone...I'm going to come back anf try to comment to each person if I can...just got busy again but I'll be back

Just to give you all an update...the seller excepted the second deal and it is not fully executed.

Of course, it's always a mistake for a buyer's agent to tell the buyer that they have a deal until they have a deal.  Until the contract is signed and delivered, there is no sale.  Further, unless instructed in writing by the seller, the listing agent must present all offers until settlement. 

If I were the listing agent, I would have sent the documents as quickly as possible, which was done.  Then, I would contact the BA and let each of them know that there is another offer and if their buyer wished to improve their offer, please provide a revised front page of the contract with new price/terms/conditions and you would get another package off to the sellers immediately.

If I were the buyers agent on either, I would contact my buyer and explain that there is another offer and if their buyer wished to improve their offer, please provide a revised front page of the contract with new price/terms/conditions and you would get another package off to the sellers immediately.

These are routine procedures in case of multiple offers.  The one thing that a listing agent doesn't do is withhold an offer or competing offer. 

The one thing that a buyer's agent doesn't do is tell a listing agent how to handle offers.  Right???

Neal-nothing surprises me anymore.  It sounds to me like this guy was trying to do anything to get you to take the buyer's offer. 

Big mistake to ever think a deal is a done deal without signed docs. The unheard of does happen even in our current market. I have to laugh...typical bullying...funny thing he attempted with the wrong guy!  As far as your listing agreement..honestly I would have probably brought up the words ethics and lawsuit..often times...that is when the tone of voice changes.  Rock on Neal...ain't real estate fun!

Thanks for this thread. I am fairly new to  the business and value what I am learning from those who have been in the trenches.

Regards,
Claudia field

First of all your sellers are in the stone age.  I would have a neighbor of their go to a Kinkos and pick up a PDF or a fax for them. 

Real estate 101 is the seller has the right to see both offers and make up their mind. 

  It amazes me how many people think they know more about your business than you do,,,especially

when they are from other states...in this case, since agent #1 probably didn't write full price, he would have been smart to sharpen his pencil a little bit with such great interest rates, it would probably not have cost his buyer a lot more,,.,he'd have been the hero to everyone instead of showing his ignorance to all..have a successful closing...enjoy the celebration !

Neal,

Kelly Sibilsky and Katherine Anderson (above) got it right.  Unless you have the permission of your client, you cannot disclose the existence of another offer on your listed property.

REALTORS®, in response to inquiries from buyers or cooperating
brokers shall, with the sellers' approval, disclose the existence of
offers on the property. Where disclosure is authorized, REALTORS®
shall also disclose whether offers were obtained by the listing
licensee, another licensee in the listing firm, or by a cooperating
broker. (Adopted 1/03, Amended 1/06)

Our (New Mexico) state Realtor forms have that permission as a part of the listing agreement.  The seller checks "yes" or "no".  Without that permission you run a significant risk (which is why that SOP is there).  Suppose the first agent said that his buyer's offer was withdrawn because the buyer was not interested in a "bidding war".  Suppose that offer was much better than the second offer.  Oh-oh!

Other than than, if you had the seller's permission to disclose the existence of other offers, everything you did is pretty much what I would have done. 

That was good  would hve also presented both offers im looking out for my cients bes interest.

Wow!....Thank you all for your comments...as you can see ...everyone will agree how it was handled so I will just try to adress some of the comments in genral instead of individually because most are identical...thanks! 

It really doesn't matter what is in my agreement because it can be amended at the sellers request..I have seen this...in this particular situation...the seller is to see all offers regardless up until they have a fully executed contract. As far other offers after that ...they are disclosed as back ups. I never tell another agent how much the other agents offer is regardless.

We might tell them that one offer is higher or better or have equal or better terms and conditions but we don't coahc another agent to bring more money to the table....it's their client and that's their job...if they think they want the deal bad enough then they have to make that move with their client. If you read...I asked the other agent if they wanted me to submit it the way it was and they said yes...so this way the ball is in their court.

I can't help the fact that this seller needed 3 different signatures from three different areas and the main seller was a senior citizen and just doesn't use email or a fax machine...when I listed the property we didn't ask them whether they had the capability to field offers via fax or computer. They aren't stupid and I was sure they could find a way to have them get the offer in a timely manner...even if I had to spend $30 to get it to them.

Back in the 90's we had every offer presented in person..not by fax or scanner or what have you...it was just the way it was and we have to adapt to the clients needs whatever they are. As far as the other agent goes....no one should be telling me what my agreement is...just like them assuming that the commission on their end is the same as mine..that's not true...or MLS only shows what the co-op agent gets...not us.

The bottom line was that the first offer was not fully executed and just because we were lucky to get two instead of one..that remark that was made was totally out of line...I was wondering whether they were just kidding but it didn't sound that way.

Sellers do not take deals just because the agent is a nice person...they look at the price and that just because it's more doesn't mean the term are going to be the best. Regardless...I would feel that if I held an offer back and it some how got back to the seller..it would be a mess...especially if I knew and still moved foward and the seller signed off on it before seeing the second...if I was the client...I would be very upset regardless on which was higher.

Why would anyone want an offer to be held back especially in this market?

I'm not here to tell other agents what they should do...I'm here to tell my peers how I would handle this situation...

Oh...I failed to mention on this deal that there is no financing so the only contingency is the inspections and clear title. And in the inspections...the buyer can always get out. Chances are they won't but they could always find some loop hole. Both of these are all cahs  deals so this has nothing to do with interest rates..mortgages or anything else other than once the inspection period ends then that's it.

Sounds as though you did the right thing. Of course the other agent was not happy -- but regardless of that, you did the right thing.

Just another update...we have an executed contract now and the inspections are this week. Regardless of how the first agent handled it....the second agent got the deal. The seller made their own decision based solely on the price...as well as the terms and conditions that was the best situation for their needs.

From what I hear ...my partner did call the other agent out of courtesy and he took it well. Sometimes when we put offers down and they are not accepted...we don't even get a return call which in my opinion is both unprofessional but dam rude! We like to be honest and although someone had to lose at least we acknowledged it in a kind and ethical way.

Neal, I think I would have gone back to both agents and explained that there was another offer on the table.  I would then have suggested they get back to their clients and ask if the offer they presented is their best offer and if not, to submit their best offer for submission to the seller.  When the market was real busy here we had to do multiple offers and we even have an addendum for multiple offer counter offers.  Interesting that even in a down market we get more than one offer at a time.  I just had a similar situation but the first offer had been accepted before the second offer came in.  Still, the house had been on the market for like 10 months and then wham, two at once. 

Sandra,

It's the agents client and before I submitted the package I asked if they wanted me to proceed by including theirs. The agent said yes....if I was the agent I would have thought of that myself but he never said to...in no way will I show an influence especially after he was trying to find out what the offer was.

We all wish for multiple offers let alone real and single offers but this was a property listed at $69,000 and there are a dome a dozen ...this one sat for a long time before we started getting offers once the home was repositioned at $69,000....thanks for your opinion!

In this day and age, how nice to have multiple offers!  Yes, of course both offers must be presented.  That's a no-brainer!   That agent's temper tantrum didn't help his client at all - it must have taken great restraint for you not to tell your client about it.

Margaret,

How true but that is the proper way to handle any offer and we did and the second was the one that the seller chose...not us. They knew nothing about the other agents antics...it came down to money and the terms and conditions of the contract