Did I just get screwed by the realtors?

Hi All,

I offered a price on a house on the weekend which the realtor called me and said the seller would not sell for less than 10 grand more than I offered. I offered 5K more and we finally settled on 6K.

When I got the contract back which I have to initial the new price, I noticed on the contract that the initial price I offered was initialled by the seller but then the price below crossed out and the new price beside with his initials on there.

Now I am wondering, did the seller agree and initial the initial price but the realtors called me anyway to up the price?

Can they do this? Can I get out of the contract? Is this classified as fraud?
 
Know how to tell when a real estate agent is lying?


Their lips move.

Seriously, though, if it wasn't worth what you offered, to you, then you wouldn't have offered it.
In a few years time, that small amount extra you paid will seem like a rounding error.
Either cool off or enjoy the deal.
 
I am fairly sure that on every contract we have signed, the price is not initialled unless it is changed by the vendor (countersigned).

If the initial price is acceptable to the vendor, I think the document is simply signed at the bottom, and initialled on every page at the bottom. There would only be an initial near the price if the vendor crossed it out, wrote a new price and initialled it. Then it goes back to the purchaser and once he initials the changed price, it becomes a binding contract.

That is in Queensland. Happy to be corrected, of course. I may be having a 'senior' moment :).
 
It's not an uncommon scenario. The vendors would have been happy to sell for the original price, but the agent has done his job and obtained an extra six large for them. Fantastic.

If you have now signed the contract with the new price; then no, it's a signed and binding contract just like any other. To get out, you'll need to use the cooling off provisions or escape via a finance / inspection clause, if you've allowed for that in the contract.

If you haven't yet initialled the higher price, then don't. Without your initial, the contract is not yet complete. But then... if you were happy to agree to that price earlier...
 
Agree with the others, let it go. If you're happy to go with that price, then just proceed and don't lose any sleep over it. It's the way agents work, they're just doing their job, and you will be grateful for them doing their job when it comes time for you to sell. ;)

I bought a property nearly a year ago, and the agent did his job and was able to push me $5K higher. The place has gone up about 10% since then (about $30K)... do you think I'm losing sleep over maybe having paid $5K more than I needed to?
 
The agent works for the seller. If I'm selling, and the agent came to me with an offer I would accept, and then said 'you know, I think I can get you another 5k out of this buyer' and then proceeds to do so, that's called being a good agent. A good SELLER's agent.

Can they do it? Sure. It's called good negotiation skills. If you'd negotiated a low price and signed, and the vendor got a better offer next week, they can't renege either.

Can you get out of the contract? Not on the basis that 'but the seller would have accepted less'. You signed it, you bought it. Don't like it? Crash the contract some other (legal) way.

Is it fraud? No, just them fulfilling their duty as sellers agents and getting the best price they can.
 
As Wylie said, I doubt you were screwed - the REA put your price and showed the vendor, the vendor didn't like it, so crossed it out and initialed it (you can't make an amendment without it being initialed by both parties) and inserted a new price (and again initialed it). Technically speaking, the vendor only needed to initial it once....
 
it depends how you see it,

if you think its only worth the lower price then , yes you screwed yourself by offering too much,

if you think its worth the higher price, then no, you didn't get screwed.

at the end of the day, the agent may have been moving his lips, but not much you can do,
in the longterm it will be so insignificant, you might even forget exactly how much paid for it in a few years!
 
I see it as a win-win. Everyone wins.

You guys met half way, just a normal part of negotiations. The seller wanted 10k more, but you were smart enough not to jack up your offer by that full amount, therefore you got the property you wanted for only 6k more.

6k is immaterial anyhow.
 
still... that $6k leveraged conservatively into a resources stock will be worth how much in a few years? that is the true cost of the loss.

the property will be worth the same in a few years regardless of how much you pay. there is only 1 thing you can control - the purchase price
 
When we sold mum's house the first offer was within $10K of the asking price which we felt was high to begin with, so my sister accepted with glee. The agent told her that that was not how it was done, she should counter offer $5K off and the agent would then negotiate in that narrow band.

The purchasers accepted our counter offer so we were $5K better off.

Thankfully for us he really was working for us.
Marg
 
still... that $6k leveraged conservatively into a resources stock will be worth how much in a few years? that is the true cost of the loss.

it could be worth $3k in a few years, or maybe $12k or more...

I wouldnt consider comparing it to a risk investment as "true cost" or loss, if you put the 6k in a fixed interest bank account then I would consider this the true loss - which would be marginal.

Like everyone else said, its only $6k and in the grand scheme of things its a drop in the ocean.
 
Some interesting comments here. May I clarify, are we basically of the same view, properties double in value every 10 years. Ok, if you bought today for say $300,000, and in 10 years we are looking at $600,000, in my opinion whether we paid $300,000 or $306,000, in the big picture, that small amount gets lost. You are on the way, thats what is important in my opinion.
 
Seriously, though, if it wasn't worth what you offered, to you, then you wouldn't have offered it.
In a few years time, that small amount extra you paid will seem like a rounding error.
QUOTE]

I know this thread is way stale by now, but I just wanted to say, yes it does seem like they coerced you into offering more, which IS annoying and frustrating, but I agree with the above quote - in a few years, months or whatever, when you're happily living in a place you LOVE, none of that will really matter. $6k? Who cares!?
 
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