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Courtz
LIF Adolescent
Member since 4/12 582 total posts
Name:
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A HIGHER Offer... after ours was accepted.
We put in an offer on a house and after a few back and forth counters our offer was accepted last Tuesday!
We had the Inspection done that Thursday (within 48 hours) and intentions of going to contract on Friday.
We learned Friday that the sellers lawyer wasn't in the office so we'd have contracts on Monday.
Well... Monday morning we woke to learn that not only was there One, but TWO higher offers and we were out!
(Side Note: We were the first offer after the house was on the market over a month.)
WTF!!! We asked for a reimbursement on the Inspection we paid for from the sellers and as of today I was told that the Sellers Agent hasn't even said anything to their client because the "higher" offer hasn't moved on having an Engineer in the house to inspect it and maybe we could still get the house.
My realtor advised me to offer more, but we can't... Research on the home doesn't call for us to pay more.
I have heard that this is something Agents/Sellers do when they think they accepted an offer too low... has anyone been through this?
ETA - UPDATE 4/23/2012...
After a week of nothing, I get a call today that the Sellers Attorney should have the contact to my Attorney today, I'm wondering if there ever really was another offer???
Message edited 4/23/2012 12:42:33 PM.
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Posted 4/20/12 7:24 PM  |
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mommy2Two
LIF Infant
Member since 3/07 218 total posts
Name:
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Re: A HIGHER Offer... after ours was accepted.
Posted by Courtz
We put in an offer on a house and after a few back and forth counters our offer was accepted last Tuesday!
We had the Inspection done that Thursday (within 48 hours) and intentions of going to contract on Friday.
We learned Friday that the sellers lawyer wasn't in the office so we'd have contracts on Monday.
Well... Monday morning we woke to learn that not only was there One, but TWO higher offers and we were out!
(Side Note: We were the first offer after the house was on the market over a month.)
WTF!!! We asked for a reimbursement on the Inspection we paid for from the sellers and as of today I was told that the Sellers Agent hasn't even said anything to their client because the "higher" offer hasn't moved on having an Engineer in the house to inspect it and maybe we could still get the house.
My realtor advised me to offer more, but we can't... Research on the home doesn't call for us to pay more.
I have heard that this is something Agents/Sellers do when they think they accepted an offer too low... has anyone been through this?
I would say Stick To Your Guns but I understand how hard it can be when you found "it".
I do actually think the market is picking up due to the low interest rates and better job market.
And I personally want to start making offers on homes after 30 days b/c sellers at this point might not think their home is so "hot" and accept lower. Maybe others were thinking same?
And I don't think you can get your inspection back.
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| Posted 4/20/12 7:33 PM |
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Courtz
LIF Adolescent
Member since 4/12 582 total posts
Name:
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Re: A HIGHER Offer... after ours was accepted.
Posted by mommy2Two
Posted by Courtz
We put in an offer on a house and after a few back and forth counters our offer was accepted last Tuesday!
We had the Inspection done that Thursday (within 48 hours) and intentions of going to contract on Friday.
We learned Friday that the sellers lawyer wasn't in the office so we'd have contracts on Monday.
Well... Monday morning we woke to learn that not only was there One, but TWO higher offers and we were out!
(Side Note: We were the first offer after the house was on the market over a month.)
WTF!!! We asked for a reimbursement on the Inspection we paid for from the sellers and as of today I was told that the Sellers Agent hasn't even said anything to their client because the "higher" offer hasn't moved on having an Engineer in the house to inspect it and maybe we could still get the house.
My realtor advised me to offer more, but we can't... Research on the home doesn't call for us to pay more.
I have heard that this is something Agents/Sellers do when they think they accepted an offer too low... has anyone been through this?
I would say Stick To Your Guns but I understand how hard it can be when you found "it".
I do actually think the market is picking up due to the low interest rates and better job market.
And I personally want to start making offers on homes after 30 days b/c sellers at this point might not think their home is so "hot" and accept lower. Maybe others were thinking same?
And I don't think you can get your inspection back.
You're 100% right about the market and the rates. My FH (not married yet LOL) is a Mortgage Banker, so I know all about it LOL
My realtor even said she's been VERY busy the past few weeks.
Its up to the sellers if they want to pay me, I'm hoping they have a heart and even will split it with me since I did it because they agreed to sell me the home and changed their mind. *Wishful thinking LOL
I just wonder if there is "really" another offer. I hear Inspections are normally done FAST and its been a week.
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| Posted 4/20/12 7:50 PM |
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alli3131
Peanut is here!!!!!!
Member since 5/09 18388 total posts
Name:
Allison
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Re: A HIGHER Offer... after ours was accepted.
Unfortunately a seller can accept another offer until you are in contract. They do not have to reimburse you for any costs you have laid out.
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| Posted 4/20/12 8:35 PM |
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marianne13
LIF Adolescent
Member since 6/10 887 total posts
Name:
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Re: A HIGHER Offer... after ours was accepted.
Posted by alli3131
Unfortunately a seller can accept another offer until you are in contract. They do not have to reimburse you for any costs you have laid out.
Exactly. I'm sorry you are going through this- I would be so annoyed if this happened.
Unless those buyers go into contract, their offer(s) is not binding either. So, they still have time to change their minds. The buyer may find a house they like more and the seller may come back to you. In our case, a higher offer was accepted and we said we aren't offering any more- we walked away. We got a call 2 weeks later saying that the buyer was being flaky and the seller decided to take our offer..I still wonder if there was actually another buyer. 
If you can't go any higher, I would just tell your agent to tell them to keep you in mind in case those other offers fall through. If you have 20% down remind them of that. If you aren't selling a house, tell your agent to remind them of that too. They may not want to deal with a buyer who has to sell first.
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| Posted 4/20/12 10:04 PM |
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SecretTTCer
LIF Adult
Member since 6/08 2284 total posts
Name:
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Re: A HIGHER Offer... after ours was accepted.
I think if you want the house you should increase your price if you can afford it. A lot of times people research comps and end up comparing apples to oranges. Sites like Zillow and Trulia are so inaccurate! Also, since they got two higher offers the house is obviously worth more. I think if you want the house, then bite the bullet and pay a bit more. It is not worth losing a house over.
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| Posted 4/20/12 10:31 PM |
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Courtz
LIF Adolescent
Member since 4/12 582 total posts
Name:
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Re: A HIGHER Offer... after ours was accepted.
Posted by marianne13
Posted by alli3131
Unfortunately a seller can accept another offer until you are in contract. They do not have to reimburse you for any costs you have laid out.
Exactly. I'm sorry you are going through this- I would be so annoyed if this happened.
Unless those buyers go into contract, their offer(s) is not binding either. So, they still have time to change their minds. The buyer may find a house they like more and the seller may come back to you. In our case, a higher offer was accepted and we said we aren't offering any more- we walked away. We got a call 2 weeks later saying that the buyer was being flaky and the seller decided to take our offer..I still wonder if there was actually another buyer.
If you can't go any higher, I would just tell your agent to tell them to keep you in mind in case those other offers fall through. If you have 20% down remind them of that. If you aren't selling a house, tell your agent to remind them of that too. They may not want to deal with a buyer who has to sell first.
I know the sellers don't have to reimburse me for any costs I lay out... just hoping that since the offer is supposedly 13K higher they will give me my $325.
We did the comps and the "higher" offer is definitely based on the asking price, not what the house is "really" worth. So hopefully I have the same luck as you and there's no "real" other offer... FH seems to think it's all BS. Wait and see I guess.
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| Posted 4/21/12 9:22 AM |
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Courtz
LIF Adolescent
Member since 4/12 582 total posts
Name:
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Re: A HIGHER Offer... after ours was accepted.
Posted by SecretTTCer
I think if you want the house you should increase your price if you can afford it. A lot of times people research comps and end up comparing apples to oranges. Sites like Zillow and Trulia are so inaccurate! Also, since they got two higher offers the house is obviously worth more. I think if you want the house, then bite the bullet and pay a bit more. It is not worth losing a house over.
I thought the same and begged FH to offer more, but he really feels that there isn't a real higher offer.
Also, the house needs A LOT of work and has some issues (from the inspection) that needs to be done immediately. So we are already walking into it with at least 10K in MUST DO's and then our own stuff that needs to be redone. It's over 50 years old and most original stuff.
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| Posted 4/21/12 9:25 AM |
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CSK
LIF Adolescent
Member since 9/11 892 total posts
Name:
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Re: A HIGHER Offer... after ours was accepted.
can you ask to see the offers? to confirm they are actually out there?
the thing about housing and comps...... they can be read a nunmber of different ways... basically you can look at them and say, hey these are all comprable and the price is lower. Someone else might say, these aren't quite the same, the location on the comp is worse, or smaller property, or condition is slightly worse....
obviously if there are other buyers, the house is worth more to them than your offer. whether they're going in high and assuming they will neg on the inspection, or whatever is anyone's guess.
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| Posted 4/21/12 9:46 AM |
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JandJ1224
Member since 6/06 5911 total posts
Name:
Jannette
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Re: A HIGHER Offer... after ours was accepted.
Unfortunately if you can't increase your offer you may lose the house. There are a lot of buyers making moves and that means multiple offers on homes that are priced right. I would make sure you let the listing agent know that you are still interested if something falls through with new offers.
Best of luck to you!
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| Posted 4/21/12 2:43 PM |
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itsbabytime
LIF Adult
Member since 11/05 9644 total posts
Name:
Me
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Re: A HIGHER Offer... after ours was accepted.
Unfortunately, this definitely happens and, really, they don't owe you anything at this point. And, while it's a **** move - let's face it, more money is more money and why wouldn't they take it?
Right b/f we made an offer on the home we ended up buying we were considering an offer on another house. We saw it at an open house and then by the time we went back we learned they had an accepted offer and the inspection had been done. They knew we were interested so the sellers were stalling on signing the contract. Our broker even told us how much the accepted offer was for and said if we offered more they would take it.
When we had an accepted offer and spent $$$ on an inspection, our broker pushed us to rush the contract - we signed it on our own and had our attorney drive it to the sellers attorney on a sunday!
I agree with what others have said. Accepted offers don't always pan out. If you can't offer more just let them know you are ready to sign if the others back out.
 bc i know it sucks big time!
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| Posted 4/21/12 5:50 PM |
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Re: A HIGHER Offer... after ours was accepted.
Posted by CSK
can you ask to see the offers? to confirm they are actually out there?
the thing about housing and comps...... they can be read a nunmber of different ways... basically you can look at them and say, hey these are all comprable and the price is lower. Someone else might say, these aren't quite the same, the location on the comp is worse, or smaller property, or condition is slightly worse....
obviously if there are other buyers, the house is worth more to them than your offer. whether they're going in high and assuming they will neg on the inspection, or whatever is anyone's guess.
A seller is not going to let you see the offers, most likely, because it could hurt their position. If they were listed at $400K, for example, and you see that they accepted $395K, why would you ever offer $400K if the first deal falls through? That is why listing agents have to keep prices confidential until sales actually close, so as to not harm the position of their client.
But I otherwise agree with this poster -- we can look at comps to get an idea of value (but the interpretation of comps are subjective, and it's important to make sure the comps you are looking at are accurate... have a real estate agent pull them versus just trying to glean info off of other sites).
But the bottom line is - A house is worth what a buyer is willing to pay, so if someone is willing to pay more than you offered, than the house is worth more than you offered.
It's definitely disappointing, especially since you invested in the inspection. At this point, the only thing you can control is your own decision-making. Do you want to pay more? It seems like your FH doesn't, and you both have to feel comfortable with your decision. So at this point, all you can do is ask that your offer be held as a back up offer in case the deal falls apart (which happens).
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| Posted 4/23/12 8:19 AM |
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Leeners
:)
Member since 5/05 4898 total posts
Name:
Eileen
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Re: A HIGHER Offer... after ours was accepted.
This happened to us and unfortunately we never recooped any costs. They had the offer before our inspection too (unbeknownst to us) and still allowed us to go ahead with the inspection - it was really f'd up 
Sorry, I hate hearing about this type of stuff, I know what a let down it is.
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| Posted 4/23/12 8:31 AM |
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Diane
Hope is Contagious....catch it
Member since 5/05 30683 total posts
Name:
D
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Re: A HIGHER Offer... after ours was accepted.
Im sorry, this must really stink. I know our realtor told us after we accepted an offer on our house to continue to show it until we went to contract.
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| Posted 4/23/12 8:35 AM |
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Serendipity
Summer!
Member since 4/07 7631 total posts
Name:
PrayingWishingHopingALOT
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Re: A HIGHER Offer... after ours was accepted.
Posted by Diane
Im sorry, this must really stink. I know our realtor told us after we accepted an offer on our house to continue to show it until we went to contract.
Yup ours did too and it was a good thing bc our deal just fell through
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| Posted 4/23/12 8:46 AM |
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mamabear
LIF Adult
Member since 3/08 4539 total posts
Name:
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Re: A HIGHER Offer... after ours was accepted.
When I was the seller, I had a second and slightly higher offer come in before I was in contract, but while contracts were being drafted. I told the second offer folks they were my back up/second in line if the deal fell through, but stuck with the first offer because it seemed more of a sure thing. We closed with the first accepted offer.
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| Posted 4/23/12 10:44 AM |
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