Agent not taking offer

[caz]

We tried to place a written contract today at 5% below the asking price and the agent (who didn't show us thru and I'm not convinced he has seen the property) said our offer wasn't worth taking.
It seemed really odd to us that he didn't present it to the owner and come back with a price.
I really don't see how insulting 5% less then asking price can be. The property is the bottom of the market, a subdivided block so there is a new house behind it. Houses with the full yard have sold recently for 20-30k over the asking price.
The owner has tried a reno but really it is so bad it would all need to be redone, I would have been more comfortable paying full price for the house untouched.

Would you just let this lie or should I try contacting the agent who showed us thru.
Caz

 

[wylie]

I reckon he may not want to put you on a contract because he will have to share the commission with the agent who showed you through. Can I ask why you didn't ask the agent who showed you through to put a contract on?

I'd definitely get the one who took you through to put a contract on and let him sort out the commission issue with the other agent.

Wylie

 

[Sultan of Swing]

I'd go to the agent that showed you through and if you get no satisfaction there, go to the owner or manager of the agency. 5% below the asking price is far from insulting.

Another option is to go straight to the owner and tell them what happened but that would be a last resort.

Cheers

 

[geoffw]

SOS

Is there an obligation in Tassie to present written offers?

 

[Xenia]

Post it to the vendor as a private offer and say that the agent didn't want to take it!

 

[sailor]

I was of the opinion that all offers had to be communicated to the vendor -- otherwise the agent isn't doing their job properly. If I was the vendor I'd be pretty annoyed with an agent if I didn't get to hear about all the offers.

 

[Joe D]

I was of the opinion that all offers had to be communicated to the vendor -- otherwise the agent isn't doing their job properly. If I was the vendor I'd be pretty annoyed with an agent if I didn't get to hear about all the offers.

A written offer must be presented, however, if the agent knows your offer before they start writing it up they may shrug it off and not actually proceed with writing it up.

I always write up the offer and the last piece of information I give is my "offer price".

They can hardly refuse at this point and if they do , I make the owner aware anyway.

 

[sailor]

A written offer must be presented, however, if the agent knows your offer before they start writing it up they may shrug it off and not actually proceed with writing it up.

I always write up the offer and the last piece of information I give is my "offer price".

They can hardly refuse at this point and if they do , I make the owner aware anyway.

What states does this apply to? In Qld even a verbal offer must be presented. Contracts are only drawn up after a verbal offer has been offered and accepted.

 

[Joe D]

What states does this apply to? In Qld even a verbal offer must be presented. Contracts are only drawn up after a verbal offer has been offered and accepted.

Sailor

Most of my IPs are in WA, however, I also have purchased in Vic and more recently Qld. I don't know the exact legalities, however, my understanding is that any verbal offer is not worth the paper it is written on. And to my mind, how could it it possibly be of any value given that all teh conditions behind it could never be adequately conveyed.

Am happy to be corrected on this, but my experience in WA, QLD and Vic would suggest a verbal offer is nothing more than an half-hearted attempt to merely convey an interest in a property ... it has no contractual "bite" to it and would only work where there are no other interested parties in the property.

 

[caz]

We did have a contract written up.
I originally spoke to the agent that I presented the offer to on the phone but he organised a different agent to show us thru. I much prefered dealing with her. They both work in the same office.
I thought an offer was required to be given to the owner as well. We have decided to call the agent who showed us through on monday and ask her.

Well we know of one agent that we won't use when we won't go to sell.
Thanks for the help.

 

[wylie]

I have never heard of a verbal offer having any legal necessity to be presented in Queensland, so was interested to hear that. Sailer, do you know this to be fact or have you heard it from an agent?

I do know that some real estate agents don't want to waste their time presenting a low offer which they know will be refused, and will ask what the offer is so that they can tell the potential purchaser not to bother at putting such a low price on paper. My understanding is that once a written contract has been signed by a purchaser the agent is obligated to present it, or at least call the vendor and let them know what the offer is.

My family ex-estate agent contact used to tell us to never tell the agent our offer, but to get it on paper so that it had to be presented.

Of course, not all agents are ethical and in the good old days, agents used to have "top pocket listings" - new listings that they would carry around in their top pocket for a couple of days in the hope that they alone would find a buyer before the other agents in the office got to know about the fresh listing. The industry is very cut-throat and it an agent can get a whole sale and not share the commission with another agent, of course they will sometimes bend the rules a little. It has happened to us, and by the office principal to boot. The agency that my relative worked for changed its rules so that agents had to put any new listings in the office listing book the day they got them because this practice was rife.

We have always gone straight to a contract because in Queensland, even if a verbal offer is agreed to, until both parties sign a contract, either party can back out with no ramifications that I have heard about. I believe other states may differ, but pretty sure that in Queensland a verbal contract will not stand up if another contract is signed before the verbal contract is made firm by having it signed by both parties.

Wylie

 

[alexgsz]

A written offer must be presented, however, if the agent knows your offer before they start writing it up they may shrug it off and not actually proceed with writing it up.

I always write up the offer and the last piece of information I give is my "offer price".

They can hardly refuse at this point and if they do , I make the owner aware anyway.

Apologies for the novice question, but what exactly is on the offer? Is it just a piece of paper with your amount your offering, or is it a full blown multi page docuement, with the contract with all conditions etc..?

 

[sailor]

Wylie, I wasn't suggesting that a verbal offer was legally binding. However, in all cases, I have made a verbal offer, and when it has been verbally accepted by the vendor, (sometimes after some tooing and froing) we went straight to contract. There's never been any written offer involved.

 

[kathryn d]

I do know that some real estate agents don't want to waste their time presenting a low offer which they know will be refused, and will ask what the offer is so that they can tell the potential purchaser not to bother at putting such a low price on paper. My understanding is that once a written contract has been signed by a purchaser the agent is obligated to present it, or at least call the vendor and let them know what the offer is.

Wylie

REA's may THINK they know what a vendor may accept, but they don't KNOW. Circumstances may change,and they may accept a lower offer. They conditions attached to the offer may be different. I know I would never tell my REA what I am willing to accept.

Also would tell the owner. and have,about the actions of the REA.
I would do this first.

 

[Joe D]

Apologies for the novice question, but what exactly is on the offer? Is it just a piece of paper with your amount your offering, or is it a full blown multi page docuement, with the contract with all conditions etc..?

Alexgsz

In WA we use a standard REIWA 2 page "Offer and Acceptance" contract which has standard terms and then a section to handwrite or type "special conditions". O&A is prepared by REA (with purchaser's input) and then signed by purchaser. Takes about 20 minutes to complete. O&A is presented to seller and once seller signs this becomes a legally binding contract with no cooling off period. Of course, it may be subject to finance and other conditions.

For QLD and Vic I have used the multi page contract document that takes longer to prepare (by the REA), it becomes an offer once the purchaser signs the document and a contract once the seller has also signed.

In all cases there may be a bit of to-and-fro ing with counter offers, but these are initialled on the same documents.

 

[Kevin Hockey]

Qld legislation is very clear on this subject. The PAMD (Property Agents & Motor Dealers act) states an agent must disclose to an owner all expressions interest in the property. Interest may be just an enquiry, discussion or question let alone an actual offer or verbal expression of a price.

Verbal contracts are only discussed with vendors by lazy, untrained and unprofessional agents. So many things go wrong with contracts which are only verbalised. All contracts should be in writing so all parties are fully aware of all matters associated with the sale. The contract process in Qld is significantly different from other Aus states.

Always insist an agent take your contract in writing that way the other party cannot back out of what they agreed upon.

Caz - go to the owner and let them know the agent has refused your starting offer.

Kev
www.gogecko.com.au

 

[CairnsAgent]

Law in QLD states that all offers must be presented to the vendor by the agent.
However, law aside, it is poor practise for an agent to decide if an offer is good enough or not! Not many people ever disclose the true financial requirements from the sale of a property to their agents, therefore the agent really isn't equipped to make that decision...and it's just not his / her decision to make anyway!
Sometimes it is better to take a lower offer (and 5% less is fair) for a quick and guaranteed sale! Depending on your circumstances of coarse.

Cheers.

 

[Vodka]

Speak with the principal of the agency where you put the offer in. Maybe they are unaware of what their agent is/is not doing. It might be an on-going problem that the principal may not be aware of and it does jeopardise their agency. This may not help you get the home but hopefully the agents in question will be put on a short leash.

 

[caz]

Hi all,
Thanks for the advice, it is under offer now so they must have got their price. I have considered reporting it but really don't know it is worth it. Our neighbours are trying to sell and didn't have anoffer for 10k less presented and they didn't care as they wanted the price they were asking for. Really I thought it was the agents job to get an offer and work it up .I don't expect my first offer to be accepted so it is usually below my top price.
Maybe that isn't the way agents around here work now.

 

[CairnsAgent]

On the other side of the fence...
It is quite possible that the vendors expressly refused to look at any offers other than the asking price, although this is unusal, it is sometimes the vendor's wishes, in which case then the agent has actually carried out the wishes of their client to the best of their ability.

Cheers.