Good to see you're giving the agent the benefit of the doubt here. I
don't know where my faith in RE disappeared...probably after being one
myself for a year!?
RE have a duty to pass on all offers to the vendor. The reality is,
though, that the vendors usually instruct agents to not bother them with
any offers that are below a certain $$ amount.
Good on you. Property Investing isn't a game, despite they way many
Real Estate agents go about their business. Let the agent know you're
the real deal and won't take any crap from him.
So do you think you'll get the property for under $440K? We usually
have a 'gut feel' about these things after a while...