Listing Agent Lied about Offer Accepted?

[Ben Ballinger]

I put an offer on a property, and the listing agent asked if that was "highest and best" due to receiving multiple offers (keep in mind, this property is a complete hell hole and I doubt they received any other offers).

They were asking way over the value of the place based on comps and the condition of the property (owned by a hoarder, needed to be completely gutted, new roof, etc. Racoons living in the upstairs, huge water damage across multiple roof lines/walls, everything peeling). So we offered a reasonable cash offer given the condition.

Either way, my agent told her that we would be open to considering a counter offer from the seller.

No reply for two days, then the seller's agent told us they had "accepted another offer".

Yet, it's been 48 hours and the MLS still lists this property as active.

So my gut and guess is that she was lying to us and didn't want to take our offer due to it being lower than their ridiculous request.

Is she allowed to lie to us about accepting another offer? We never received a counter offer, she just denied us.  Seems unethical to me.

[Russell Brazil]

It sounds like to me they have verbally accepted another offer and are ironing out the details of the contract, like dates for closing, inspections etc. And with the contract going back and forth for initials, it can take a few days sometime.

Also there is nothing unethical about not taking your offer. They are under no obligation to counter you or even respond.

If you are that concerned, why not just contact them and ask nicely whats going on since you notice its still listed as active. It could even just be an oversite that they forgot to update the mls.