A BIG DOSE OF REAL ESTATE REALITY!...What would You Have Done In This Situation?

I can not tell from your post whether you ever told the first agent that another contract was coming in as you did tell the 2nd agent that you already had an offer. maybe the first buyer would have upped the anty since it was so close to asking anyway. Its sad that both walked. Ugh. Like the others I have a time frame, disclose to all parties and go from there. Hopefully another will be coming shortly. And stop beating yourself up. You did what the sellers wanted.

Hi there Paula, we have also been in the situation many times and we let our sellers know the risks. Because of what our experiences, here is how we handle the situation.

We share are what may happen if the first offer decides to move on, the second offer not coming through, both offers not coming through because they both don't want to get in a bidding war etc. We explain our experiences from the past and let the sellers decide what will work for them.

The basic principal is that we do our best to get the sellers what they want/need from the sale of their home and property. They make the decision if the offer will work for them or not. If they are comfortable with the negotiations from the first offer, they may decide to just accept it. If they wish to hold on for a better offer and it is in a reasonable amount of time, they may choose to wait a little bit.

While multiple offers are great and usually result in a better bargaining position for the seller, they can cause some confusion and result in some buyers walking away.

I am sorry this happened to both you and your seller. Perhaps your sellers can make an offer back to the first buyers and see what happens. We have done that before too (and it worked!).

Jacque & Larry

Hey, Paula!  I included this post in Last Week's Favorites.   Have a great Sunday!

I've recently been embroiled in a wait and see situation myself.  I let an agent know that we planned to write an offer on her listing.  Suffice it to say that there were complications and just about everyone we needed something from was on vacation.  One week later when we finally did get around to making an offer, surprise, surprise, we had company.  Not fun.  Still, our intentions were pure. This second agent sounds like a real manipulator (or, at least her buyers were)! Like you, I would have let the sellers know about their options, along with a warning. In the end, it was their choice to risk losing the first offer. You did your best.

I'm glad Pat Kennedy featured this in her weekly favorites list.  You have to work with what you actually have in hand. 

I would give 1 deadline and leave it at that. No one could have blamed you. Frankly, I don't know why sellers make offers wait on a decision when there are so many choices. Making a buyer wait more than a day invites peril. I have had selelrs do this also and they often lose the sale. 

Paula

I'm not sure there is a true, right answer to this sort of information as there are so many variables, and people and emotions involved. And it sounds like you did what the seller wanted, which in itself might not have been the right decision. So easy to criticise or play "what if" or "shoulda woulda coulda" when it is over and done with. Good news is there is another buyer. And if Buyer 1 found another so readily it might not have gone ahead anyhow. Seems to me, though, that there was too much back and forth and clearly the other side took advantage.

Jeff

It's hard to second guess - especially for us when we know the outcome, we could just guess that it was the wrong decision.  But you did the right thing by asking your client what to do.  After all, it is not our decision but the seller's.  And I'm sure you explained the pluses and minuses of each choice.  Like they say - sometimes spit happens.

So sorry about your situation.  Usually, I'd give an agent a day at the most to submit an offer. If a buyer likes or as she said "loves" the house, they will put an offer in quickly especially knowing that there's another offer on the table.  Hope you find another buyer quickly.

Paula, can't tell you how many times it has happened to us till we learned to just offer a one time 24 hours to produce an offer... if we do not receive the 2nd offer within the 24 hrs we just go ahead full force with the first offer.  We do not even call the agent as a reminder that time is running out.  Less stress, but also the only way to protect our sellers.  Hope you get a full price offer soon.

Paula, over the past few years I have come to learn that I no longer believe "we are writing an offer" until I have it in writing, in my hot little hands. I don't tell my sellers until I have one in my hot little hands either because... more times than not it does not arrive. Or should I say, I HESITATE to say anything until it arrives.

But I understand why you did what you did, and believe me, I could do the very same thing. I usually have to repeat outloud to myself.. it isn't an offer until you SEE it...