The highest and best offer game.

[Joe S.]

The highest and best offer game. So we made an offer on a property. They took several days and then sent out an email that there were multiple offers and please submit our highest and best. We have seen that game several times before and whereas we already had projects we were working on decided not to bid against ourselves.  We instructed our realtor that we have already made our highest and best offer. Mysteriously we won the bid.

[Charlie MacPherson]

@Joe S. It's not a "game" as you suggest.  It's a seller's agent doing their job, which is to get the best possible deal for their property, whether that's price, terms, contingencies, financing, time to closing or something else.

Both a seller's agent and buyer's agent are fiduciaries to their client in the same way their attorney is.

I know it stinks from the buyer's perspective, but that's the nature of the real estate market.

BTW - you mentioned that the seller sat on the offer for "several days".  That suggests that you didn't put a short deadline on the offer.  When I was practicing as a Realtor, I'd always call the seller's agent and say "I have an offer for 123 Main St. for you.  At what time today can you present the offer to the sellers?"  Let's say the answer was 3 PM. 

I'd wait until 2 PM to send it and state in the offer that "Time is of the essence" and "this offer expires at 6 PM today, [DATE].

Only once did a seller's agent push back and say that our offer was declined because the seller doesn't like pressure.  That agent, who I dealt with many times since, was not the sharpest knife in the drawer. 

A short deadline means that the seller's agent has to present the offer quickly and doesn't have much time to wave it around to other buyers with an invitation to beat your offer.