So quick story.. I recently found a duplex in my area (Long Island, NY) that was exactly what I was looking for for an investment property. It was in exceptional condition and needed very little upgrading, except for just some minor cosmetic stuff.

Price = $749k

The property had only been listed for a day and I was the 2nd person in there to view the property. I went with my agent and we were able to view the property as he had the keys.

As soon as we finished the viewing, I had my agent call the listing agent to find out what we can do to get this house sold and off the market immediately, without any further showings. To my surprise, the listing agent told my agent that the homeowner was just trying to get asking price, so I quickly told him let's do it and we offered him an even $750k CASH (I have this liquid and was not doing any type of financing whatsoever).

About 10 minutes later, the listing agent called my agent back, and said they accepted the offer and gave my agent "his word" that there would be no further showings on the property. I had to rush to get an inspection lined up for the following day, but we were being held up waiting to hear if the current tenants that were occupying 1 of the 2 units would allow us to get in there to get an inspection done on short notice the following day on the Sunday before MLK Day.

At this point, everyone goes dark. Sunday rolls around and still nothing about getting us in for the inspection. At this point, I knew we were going to be screwed as the listing agent was for sure going to be showing his other scheduled showings the following day on MLK Day (even though he said he wasn't going to and gave us his word).

Monday comes around, and of course, the listing agent says they jumped the gun on accepting the offer, and wanted to see what else they could get as an offer. My agent told the listing agent they dropped the ball and at least owed us the opportunity to compete and be transparent with any new offers, as we originally had our offer accepted, and they owed us at least that. He agreed.

2 days later, we were told the house was "hot" and that they had offers coming in. The listing agent said that if we wanted to improve our offer, that now was the time.

I increased my offer to $786k CASH, given the excellent condition of the house. No duplex in this neighborhood has ever sold for over $800k, and that was a few years ago and was in an even better area of the neighborhood (off the main road, and surrounded by much nicer houses).

The next day, we are alerted by the listing agent that they went forward with another offer without even giving us a call or a chance to compete. My agent and I were floored given how aggressive our offer was and that we were really owed the opportunity to compete and beat whatever the best offer was, but we weren't. We both told the listing agent this behavior was extremely unprofessional.

I told this to my father, and he asked why I was using an agent at all. He's bought over a dozen single family properties over the years (for vacation homes mostly) and he said every single time he just called the listing agent directly and got it done.

I know most people generally frown upon this because the buyer agent is supposed to help get a better price, negotiate based on issues w/the house, etc. However, I'm skeptical how much the buyer agent really tries to get you a lower price, since their commission is also based on a higher sale price. Also, any issues will come out during a thorough inspection anyway.

I figure if I work with the listing agent directly, they're more likely to disclose the price I need to hit to win, and even if I come in slightly lower, they can still get a much higher commission by dual agency, as opposed to having to split the commission with the buyer agent.

What are your guys thoughts on this? Has anyone had success purchasing directly through the listing agent?

Long Island, New York

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