Ethics in real estate

[Whitney Blaine]

We bought a home 5 years ago. A total dive in a great area. It's been a great investment. One thing has always bothered me though. Nobody wanted the home because it needed so much work. The listing agent was friends with the owners of the house. The owners were bugged because they accepted an offer from us that they thought was too low. Then the realtor came back to us and said that someone else had made on offer on the home for the same amount we made, and if we wanted it we should offer more. we ended up paying what the owners wanted in the first place. I was told later by a friend, that the realtor really didn't have anyone else interested in the property! We never confronted him about this.

How can you know for sure if someone is really making another offer? What if this happens...is there anything you can do?