Should I sue my real estate agent? or do I have a case.

klattermusen

klattermusen

Long story short.

I know nothing about real estate or agents. Never owned a home.

So I saw a place on Zillow. I contacted the agent (seller's agent) and asked to look at the place. He accommodated and I liked it. He told me 8 people saw it already (this is day 2 of the listing) and that he will be holding back all offers until day 4. After that he (the owner's wishes) won't be taking any more offers.

I'm ok with that and the next day (Day 3) I tell him I'll offer the asking price. He said that's fine and he can write up the offer for me. Seems simple enough so I get docusigned papers for the full asking with only a septic inspection. I notice he's also listed as my agent so I guess he would get both commissions. I'm ok with that to be honest and he seemed nice enough to show me the place.

So I'm excited. But that all falls apart when 2 days later (day 5) I get a txt from the agent saying the seller went with a "higher" offer.

Now I'm annoyed to put it mildly. If I was told that higher offers were required then I would have at least been aware to make that decision. I would have gone up to 10% higher. And since he was the seller's agent he would have known all the offers...so I'm scratching my head wondering why he was ok with my "lower" offer. Especially now in retrospect he wa technically my agent and should have looked out for my best interests/desires. This was a unique property an I doubt it'll come up again. Plus I'm not young anymore.

I feel like I was swindled somehow; or at least deceived. And most of all I've missed out on the home.

So I'm looking for a way to recoup my sense of loss on the matter.

Do I have any case against the agent for damages of losing the home?

Thanks
 
klattermusen said:
Long story short.

I know nothing about real estate or agents. Never owned a home.

So I saw a place on Zillow. I contacted the agent (seller's agent) and asked to look at the place. He accommodated and I liked it. He told me 8 people saw it already (this is day 2 of the listing) and that he will be holding back all offers until day 4. After that he (the owner's wishes) won't be taking any more offers.

I'm ok with that and the next day (Day 3) I tell him I'll offer the asking price. He said that's fine and he can write up the offer for me. Seems simple enough so I get docusigned papers for the full asking with only a septic inspection. I notice he's also listed as my agent so I guess he would get both commissions. I'm ok with that to be honest and he seemed nice enough to show me the place.

So I'm excited. But that all falls apart when 2 days later (day 5) I get a txt from the agent saying the seller went with a "higher" offer.

Now I'm annoyed to put it mildly. If I was told that higher offers were required then I would have at least been aware to make that decision. I would have gone up to 10% higher. And since he was the seller's agent he would have known all the offers...so I'm scratching my head wondering why he was ok with my "lower" offer. Especially now in retrospect he wa technically my agent and should have looked out for my best interests/desires. This was a unique property an I doubt it'll come up again. Plus I'm not young anymore.

I feel like I was swindled somehow; or at least deceived. And most of all I've missed out on the home.

So I'm looking for a way to recoup my sense of loss on the matter.

Do I have any case against the agent for damages of losing the home?

Thanks
More...

Agents who represent the seller are not allowed to disclose the level of other offers on the property to other potential buyers in most states. If you had a buyers agent rather than a dual agent (seller & buyer) then they (buyer's agent) would likely be able to dig up some guidance.

In many real estate markets in the U.S. the properties are still going above the asking price -- even as the market is cooling.

You have no grounds to sue for damage. The seller's agent was acting within the law and exactly as expected.
 
gwb-trading said:
Agents who represent the seller are not allowed to disclose the level of other offers on the property to other potential buyers in most states. If you had a buyers agent rather than a dual agent (seller & buyer) then they (buyer's agent) would likely be able to dig up some guidance.

In many real estate markets in the U.S. the properties are still going above the asking price -- even as the market is cooling.

You have no grounds to sue for damage. The seller's agent was acting within the law and exactly as expected.
More...
Well are they allowed to collect double commission by representing buyer and seller?

And more importantly as my agent - does he not have any responsibility to advise me in a manner to maximize my chances of getting a property. What's he doing to earn his vig?
 
klattermusen said:
Well are they allowed to collect double commission by representing buyer and seller?

And more importantly as my agent - does he not have any responsibility to advise me in a manner to maximize my chances of getting a property. What's he doing to earn his vig?
More...

Dual agents have responsibility to the seller first and buyer second. Keep in mind who hired the agent first and signed a written contract to sell their home.

This is why I have always used to trusted buyer's agent who knows the local market for all of my real estate purchasing transactions.
 
klattermusen said:
Well are they allowed to collect double commission by representing buyer and seller?

And more importantly as my agent - does he not have any responsibility to advise me in a manner to maximize my chances of getting a property. What's he doing to earn his vig?
More...

No unless you have signed a buyer's agent agreement with him and formally hired him as your agent representing you the buyer, he is NOT your agent and shouldn't collect commission from you. When you buy a property directly from a seller's agent, you as the buyer would not pay commissions. Just showing you the property and drawing up your offer and presenting it to the seller does not make him your agent. His loyalty is still with the seller and is obligated to fetch the highest selling price for the seller who's paying him the commission and is his client. What he is doing for you is just out of courtesy. And he is not allowed to divulge any information about any other competing offers if there are any on the property. As part of his duty to his client, the seller to fetch the highest selling price for the property, what he can do is drop subtle hints about how popular the property is, how many visits he's received and etc. but that is as far as he can go without breaking any rules. From how you described it, the agent did everything by the book and you won't have a case against him.

However, dual agency IS legal in the US except in eight states. https://worldpopulationreview.com/state-rankings/is-dual-agency-illegal-in-some-states. So I don't know which state you are living in, but if you live in a state where dual agency is legal and have REALLY signed a buyer's agent agreement and he has made it clear to you that he is representing you the buyer and is going to be compensated by you paying him a commission, then he is obligated to inform you of all of the competing offers being presented to the seller and where your offer stands in relation to all the other offers and advice you what you should do as the buyer if you really want to buy the property and even actively negotiate for you with the seller. If he has not done those duties, then you might have a case against him as he has not adequately represented you as the buyer.

To me, dual agency does not make sense and is a major source of conflict of interest and at the end not sure neither the seller or the buyer are represented adequately but that's how the real estate law stands.
 
gwb-trading said:
Dual agents have responsibility to the seller first and buyer second. Keep in mind who hired the agent first and signed a written contract to sell their home.

This is why I have always used to trusted buyer's agent who knows the local market for all of my real estate purchasing transactions.
More...

For me, I never use buyer's agents. At the end, they don't really represent you the buyer because it's the seller who's ultimately paying them the commission. So why would they have the incentive to help you to negotiate for you a lower price when their commission depends on the final price? It does not make sense. All they do is wedge themselves in the deal and collect free money for really doing nothing and sometimes even end up destroying a deal. I have lost on properties because of buyer agents who never did anything to negotiate for me and instead just kept pushing me to move to the seller's price and in the end even refused to cut her commission to make the deal work. I ended up losing a beautiful townhouse that was close to everything and in a great neighborhood because the seller just move his price. I get pressured all the time to engage a buyer's agent and every time when they do that, I just recount the horrible experience that I had with the buyer's agent and they back off. LOL

Ever since then, I have refused to ever work with a buyer's agent. I do my own due diligence, my own research on the property, on the seller and the market for the area that the property is located in and then I decide on the price and do all the negotiation and it's worked out well. Today's seller's agents I find are very nice and they do try to help you. You can see all of the past price history on zillow and streeteasy, I have lots of information at my disposal so I really don't need a buyer agent. I have only encountered one unscrupulous seller's agent that tried to lie to me in order to push the price higher and I walked away from the deal. At the end, it all depends on how desperate the seller is trying to sell the property vs how desperate I am looking to buy the property. That's it.
 
klattermusen said:
Long story short.

I know nothing about real estate or agents. Never owned a home.

So I saw a place on Zillow. I contacted the agent (seller's agent) and asked to look at the place. He accommodated and I liked it. He told me 8 people saw it already (this is day 2 of the listing) and that he will be holding back all offers until day 4. After that he (the owner's wishes) won't be taking any more offers.

I'm ok with that and the next day (Day 3) I tell him I'll offer the asking price. He said that's fine and he can write up the offer for me. Seems simple enough so I get docusigned papers for the full asking with only a septic inspection. I notice he's also listed as my agent so I guess he would get both commissions. I'm ok with that to be honest and he seemed nice enough to show me the place.

So I'm excited. But that all falls apart when 2 days later (day 5) I get a txt from the agent saying the seller went with a "higher" offer.

Now I'm annoyed to put it mildly. If I was told that higher offers were required then I would have at least been aware to make that decision. I would have gone up to 10% higher. And since he was the seller's agent he would have known all the offers...so I'm scratching my head wondering why he was ok with my "lower" offer. Especially now in retrospect he wa technically my agent and should have looked out for my best interests/desires. This was a unique property an I doubt it'll come up again. Plus I'm not young anymore.

I feel like I was swindled somehow; or at least deceived. And most of all I've missed out on the home.

So I'm looking for a way to recoup my sense of loss on the matter.

Do I have any case against the agent for damages of losing the home?

Thanks
More...

I've had ~12 housing transactions over the past 10 years.
Only once did I use the seller's agent as my agent. I probably wouldn't do it again. You have no one watching out for your best interest.
It costs you nothing to get another agent and anyone will be GLAD (even beg) to show you the property & be your agent. They'll collect 2.5-3% on the transaction.
As others have said, the agent did nothing wrong.
 
If you are in the market for a property you may as well interview recommended buyer's agents and narow down and retain one that "gets you." Why? Houses may well become increasingly more affordable for a duration that rewards the prepared. Grease the skids and be very selective. You'll be fine. Keep an eye on the one that got away in case it resurfaces, ya never can tell.
 
klattermusen said:
Except to tell me to leave my knife at home when going to a gun fight. I had no chance to have a competitive offer and he knew that information. Transparency is seen as "bad".
More...
Depends on the local rules.
Where I live, seller agents cannot disclose other offer prices. It's simply against the law.
They just gather all the offers (prices and conditions) and guide the seller.
In your case, you made an offer blindly in the same condition as for others who were also blind.
But maybe it's different where you live.
 
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