In a recent Blog Post: "Did You Really Expect a Counter Offer?" I received many responses from agents who felt the sellers should have counter offered rather than rejecting the messy, incomplete, low ball offer.
In that case the purchase contract came in:
- $100,000 below asking price on a nice home that was appropriately priced. ($500,000 to $600,000 price range).
- The contract looked like a 3rd grader wrote it. Missing signatures and initials, missing addendums, no pre-approval letter, no cover letter and errors on almost every page.
- Where their broker was supposed to sign they reviewed it, it was marked reviewed by phone.
I disagreed with countering in this case. A majority of the agents agreed with my assessment. There were also a large number of agents who felt the sellers should have countered, even in this extreme case. Based on their feedback, I decided we should look at that a little closer at this.
I thought I would toss out a few questions to the group and start the conversation. Please be warned my blog site is titled "Hawaii Randy's Real Estate Opinions." I will also express opinions later on, so please read the comments.
Here are a few questions I am tossing out to the group for discussion.
- By countering in all cases, are you not encouraging bad behavior from other agents and buyers?
- If you rewrite the entire contract for the buyer's agent, aren't you doing their job? Who is representing the buyer?
- Are you taking on additional liability by writing the buyer's offer for their agent?
- What will escrow be like on the other side of that agent?
- When you are miles apart, what kind of counter would be productive and effective?
- How far should you go with a buyer, who has not shown they have the ability to buy this property?
I look forward to reading feedback from our real estate community.
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Randy L. Prothero, REALTOR®
Principal Broker, ABR, AHWD, CRS, e-PRO, GRI, MRP, SFR
Island Style Realty Inc.
Team Leader - "The Prothero Group"
Randy Prothero is well established as an expert in working with military / VA clients and first time home buyers. His home seller's (listing) campaign is one of the most aggressive marketing programs in the area.
Based out of Mililani, Hawaii. Randy services the island of Oahu (Honolulu County) Performs mediations and ombudsman services for the Board of Realtors. To improve overall professionalism in his area Randy also offers classes for real estate agents.
www.HawaiiRandy.com * Oahu (Honolulu County) Property Search * Hawaii Military Relocations
