I read your article with great interest and believe you are absolutely right in that selling agents (those representing a buyer, whether under contract with a Buyer Agency Agreement or implied) should present their own offer OR at the very least be present when the offer is being presented.

A case in point. Two weeks ago I was in a situation where I was in a multiple offer situation (only two but nonetheless in a competitive position).  The buyer was aware of this and we put our best foot forward in our offer.  We offered full price with NO conditions.

The listing agent suggested that we only had one shot at it and we had to provide our best offer.  Interestingly, it was to be faxed to the listing agent, who would present the offer.  The other offer was not the listing agent’s offer, but in another situation could very well be.  My buyer would have been prepared to offer up to $3,000 more for the property if he had been given the opportunity.  As it was, since I was not present, the successful accepted offer, also with NO conditions, was $100 over asking price.

What does this process tell you? Simply this: The vendor lost a potential $2,900.  So the question here is, who is the winner?

Last week I was in another multiple offer situation that I did present in person.  Our offer was $2,550 over the asking price, with no conditions other than a 90-day close, which my buyer stated was negotiable.  I was the first to present the offer and stated only that although the buyer preferred a 90-day close, 30 days was not out of the question.  The other agent presented his offer second and in the end the seller, probably with the advice of their agent, decided to further negotiate with the second agent.  Now here is the rub. The other offer was posted on our board’s database at the exact same price as what we had offered, with a 30-day close.  To me this sounded a bit suspicious, and again my offer was based on the fact that the listing agent did ask for us to provide our best offer…..no second chances.

Even with multiple offers, and certainly in both of these cases, in my view the loser was the vendor because they could have potentially realized a much higher price if they had requested a sign-back to both of these offers.  I know there may have been some risk in that neither of the buyers would have increased their offer, but that is the nature of this business.  I do not believe that in ANY multiple offers situation, that the buyer should be putting his best offer on the table. This is not negotiating.

John Douglas Moroz

Associate Broker

Realtysellers (Ontario) Limited

Toronto