Can I contact the buyer's agent directly.

Question

Short version, we listed a property we bought sight unseen via auction. Lets say for the sake of discussion we paid 60k and it was previous listed for 130k. We relisted the property with the same listing agent that previously had it and they advised us the value of the property was 85k. So being that we wanted a little market time, we listed it for 94,900. 2 days into the listing period we get a financed offer for 90k which the agent claims is a "very good offer", she asks us to accept/counter asap. We stall. A day later we get a cash offer for 94,900 which the agents requests us to again accept/counter asap. Being as there are 2 offers, we ask for "highest and best", the cash offer jumps to 125k and the Financed offer jumps to 135k.

I'd like to contact the cash buyer's agent to see if i can push them closer to the financed offer. I currently lack any faith in my current listing agent's ability, though i'm not trying to push her out of the deal. She is going to get her commission regardless of what i do.

Thoughts on contacting the cash buyer's agent directly and seeing if i can get them to close the gap?

Wayne Brooks · Answer

Is this a hard property to comp for some reason? Was it previously at $130k as a short sale, as that would have kept a lot of buyers away. If these offers are legit, that's a big jump from $95k. Your agent should be making that call, but if you feel they're not competent, make the call yourself but let your agent know before you do. With a financed offer of course, appraisal and the borrower actually qualifying are a risk.

Account Closed · Answer

Hi Leigh - I would think you want to have your listing agent do that. If you didn't have the listing agent involved, then reaching out directly wouldn't be a problem. Do you know what each of the buyers are? Meaning are they both investors is the financed offer a end user and the cash buyer is an investor? If the later, you might want to think about whether you've brought up the cash buyer to his max allowable offer. Just a thought.

Leigh C · Answer

Bill,This property is located in another state. About 1500 miles away from me. Otherwise I would of dealt with it myself as I am a FL agent. I toyed with the idea of doing a flat fee, but in the end i wanted local boots on the ground and it seemed easier to leave it with the previous REO agent. In hindsight, i wish biggerpockets had "boots on the ground" i could hire to babysit deals that are too far for me to do myself. I'd rather give some newbie starting out 1000 dollars or something than this clown 4 times as much.Ended up pushing the cash buyer up to match the financing and washing my hands of it. The house next door is listed for double what we are selling ours for. I can't and won't make any clearer sense of this. Zillow and the tax rolls both agree with the sales price we are getting, which obviously means i gave away some equity. Tired of looking back at this deal, time to focus on the next one ahead of me.

Bill Gulley · Answer

Leigh, aren't you an agent (thinking you are)? I don't see a problem under the circumstances since your friend got the brush off, I'd fire her but keep her broker in the loop since you have offers. Off hand, thinking the listing agent had some justifications for that 85K value, I'd be leery about that financed offer appraising out, some calls to a local appraiser or a simple letter of opinion might be worth it or a CMA. I see your problem with your listing agent, a conference call with the broker to get a better valuation might be in order. Congrats, sounds like you did well on the deal, and yes, I'd be speaking to the cash buyer's agent, you'll probably need to explain why your agent isn't calling for you and that could be sticky but based on her performance, I wouldn't be too concerned. :)

Leigh C · Answer

Wayne, it was a hard property to comp. It was an REO when i bought it, and it's hard to say why the agent couldn't sell it before. My instincts tell me the agent pushed everyone away.I tried to call our agent to inform them i was going to make the call, got her VM and hung up. I then called the cash buyer and pushed them to match the financed offer. Was a little awkward as the other agent didn't want to talk to me. I told her to just listen as I explained my point of view on the situation and that they needed to come up to match.After that call, because i was curious I had a friend with a different area code on his phone call the listing agent and demand to put a cash offer in on the property. She ignored his calls for 24 hours, then pushed him off that there were 2 other offers that we were about to sign. We had not executed anything at that point. He tried to set up an appointment to write a contract which was 24+ hours ago. No response.I have no doubts the agent is garbage, but at this point since we are getting an insane return I'm just cutting this property loose and taking the cash. What is it really worth? I don't honestly know. My guess is the agent made this opportunity for us at the auction, we then made the mistake to relist to save the hassle of rekeying and updating the information about the property. I'll watch her inventory now to see what other situations might arise, and obviously not relist with her again.

Jared Benson · Answer

Since you bought it via auction does that mean you paid cash? That's how it works in Texas where I am. My first concern is if the house is even financeable? If not, then you really aren't comparing apples to apples. My second concern is listing the house with the original agent who couldn't sell it. That being said, you COULD contact the buyers agent directly BUT most agents(especially yours) will not appreciate that. If you're planning on using realtors you probably don't want to burn any bridges. I'm new to the site but fairly familiar with the realtor market (I work for a foundation repair company) and am a new investor myself. I hope have good info, if not please let me know.

Zach Sikes · Answer

How has activity been on the property? Would the cash buyer be an owner occupant or an investor?