Longtime readers of Phoenix Real Estate Guy will know there are some things that annoy me about the real estate industry. No, seriously!

Bad listing photos, (most) Realtor designations, the bureaucracy of Realtor Associations, the requirement to write REALTOR® in ALL CAPS, single-agent dual agency, and the “I’M A MILLION DOLLAR PRODUCER!” proclamation are just a few annoyances on my list.

Here’s another thing that bugs the hell out of me.

Claims of “We are #1!” for anything ranging from production, to agent count, to service, to web sites, to social media presence. And more.

A couple of years ago, some agent regularly slapped fliers on my door with “THE NUMBER ONE REAL ESTATE WEB SITE IN ARIZONA!!” in big giant red letters across the top. Interestingly, that #1 real estate website in Arizona is now returning “page not found” errors…

I regularly see agents advertising, “I’m a top producer!”

And a few days ago, @KWCareers on Twitter posted this:

For the record, I’ve got nothing against Keller Williams. I have good friends that are KW agents, I know many stellar KW agents,  and we’ve got some amazing former KW agents working at Thompson’s Realty.

What bugs me are these claims – by anyone – of being #1, or “the best” or “top” whatever.

When I see claims like the one Keller Williams made, four thoughts typically pop immediately into my head:

1. You are #1 based on what metrics?
2. Show me the data!
3. Who cares?
4. So what?

So in an effort to get the answer to Thought 1, I asked @KWCareers this on Twitter:

“Curious, #1 based on what metric?”

I was not alone in my curiosity, as Michael McClure ( @ProfessionalOne) asked:

“Congrats! By what metric(s) are U #1 on Twitter?”

The next day, here’s how the Twitter conversation progressed:

Well, given that on Twitter @KWCareers has 4,398 followers, and @KWRI (the KW “home” account) has 6,374 followers, yeah it is that hard to believe. Total number of followers? The aforementioned ProfessionalOne has 34,239 followers. Adding these two KW accounts together they don’t have one-third the followers that Professional One has…

So I replied:

Which garnered this response:

Ah! Now we are finally getting to the root of the question, “You are #1 based on what metric?”

Let’s set aside the ridiculous (and worthless) measure of “followers” on Twitter – it means absolutely nothing as Jeff Turner pointed out quite eloquently in his article, YEO – Why Twitter Follower Counts Mean Nothing. If you think follower counts mean anything, read Jeff’s article where he outlines how he set up two Twitter accounts for fictional people, automated their Twitter messages and replies, and collected almost 6,000 followers in one week.

But if Keller Williams wants to use that particular metric to claim they are, “The #1 real estate company on Twitter and Facebook”, who am I to stop them?

However, if you’re going to claim it, you darn well ought to be able to prove it.

My Thought 2 asks, “Show me the data!”

And we are waiting on said data:

This should be quite interesting. In order to prove this claim, what KW is going to have to do is:

Show that they’ve found every Keller Williams agent with a Twitter and Facebook account, and every agent with a Twitter and Facebook account that works for RE/MAX, Century 21, Coldwell-Banker, and Prudential. Since those are the largest five brokerages by agent count, that should be a sufficient sample set to prove they have the most agents with Twitter accounts and Facebook profiles. (Though to truly prove their claim, they really need the numbers for every agent in every company.)

Good luck getting that data. I can’t wait to see it. I wonder who #2 is? Keller Williams must already know as they have determined they are #1. You can’t claim you are #1 without knowing who is in position #2…

I don’t think they can prove this. Oh, they can assume they are #1 because they are the largest brokerage by agent count. They do tend to have more “tech savvy” agents than the other large brokerage houses, so maybe this assumption of the “#1 spot” is safe.

But they aren’t saying, “We think we are #1” or “We assume we are #1” or “We’re probably #1”. They said, “KW is the #1 real estate company on Twitter and Facebook”. Is, not might, should or could be. Is.

So prove it.

Here’s where things like this bug me beyond belief

No one ever bothers to prove these wild (and usually meaningless) claims. They just shout them out and expect people to believe it.

Here’s a claim for you:

Thompson’s Realty is the number one real estate brokerage in the world!

Want proof?

We have never had a single agent leave our brokerage to go work for another real estate brokerage. Ever. That is a documentable fact. Since no one has ever left to work somewhere else, we are by definition #1 with regard to agent retention (Yes, there could be other brokerages with the same claim – but no one can do better than zero agents leaving for other brokerages).

Maybe I should blaze Thompson’s Realty is the number one real estate brokerage in the world! across my websites. Or send out a Tweet or Facebook status update. It is a true statement after all.

A true statement as long as I leave out how we are measuring this. Of course there is more that should go into claiming you are the #1 brokerage in the world than just agent retention. But hey, everyone else makes #1 claims without bothering to mention what metric that claim is based on. Why shouldn’t I?

Why. Shouldn’t. I.

Because it is wrong to make claims of position or grandeur without the data to back it up. Because It’s wrong to puff out your chest with pride and say things like you have “the best website in Arizona”, or you run “the #1 brokerage in the world” or “the #1 real estate company on Twitter and Facebook” without clearly indentifying what you are basing that claim on – and having the data to back it up.

Not only is it wrong, but honestly, who cares and so what? Does being the #1 real estate company on Twitter mean a damn thing to the most important people for your brokerage — your clients? Last I checked, our sellers have one fundamental goal – to sell their home. Our buyers have one fundamental goal – to purchase a home that meets their needs. I don’t think they give a hoot how many Twitter followers our agents have, how many have a Facebook page, how many RSS subscribers or how many visitors their sites get. Yes, maybe those things contribute to the success of an agent, and ultimately to the clients need. Maybe. But prancing around making basically unprovable claims is a pointless exercise.

So please, make it stop.

UPDATE:

Seems prudent to document the conversation that occurred on Twitter after this post was published:

@KWCareers: Just got a message from KWRI that they did their own survey of other RE Co’s on Twitter/Facebk & compared follower/fan #’s to KW’s

@KWCareers: @ProfessionalOne @phxreguy Wish I had an independent source to refer to….but had to take our research dept’s findings as fact

@PhxREGuy: @KWCareers Soooo… you can’t share the research dept’s findings? They must have had SOMETHING to base this claim on?

@KWCareers: @phxreguy Working on getting the specific data…stay tuned. Believe me….want to win this debate! Thanks for participating!

@PhxREGuy: @KWCareers Would be interesting to see. Assuming a sample, so things like sample size, statistical validity, margin of error are important

@PhxREGuy: @KWCareers WIthout at least that, it’s not worth the paper it’s printed on… especially w/o independent verification

@KWCareers: @phxreguy Understand…will work to get u info. In the meantime, maybe u should take a closer look at the KW model: http://bit.ly/cjJcOk [Editor's Note: thanks for the link, but I'm well aware of the KW model]

Approximately two hours later…

@KWCareers: @phxreguy The stat that KW is # 1 on facebook/twitter is based off the followers/fans of each company’s corporate identities on each site.

@PhxREGuy: @KWCareers So you are saying KW is #1 on Twitter because @kwri has more followers than any other RE company?

And no response yet from my last question to @KWCareers, though they’ve sent out nine unrelated Tweets since telling us they are “#1 on Twitter” based off followers of “each companies corporate identities”.

MY interpretation of that means that the “Keller Williams Research Department” looked up Twitter profiles for the main “corporate identity” account for…  every real estate company?

Hmmm. Apparently not. Here’s what the Thompson’s Realty Research Department has found regarding Twitter follower count for various real estate companies:

Kelsey Cottrell Realty (Independent real estate brokerage): 99,569 followers
Professional One (Real Estate Brokerage Franchisor): 34,261 followers
Austin Texas Homes (Independent real estate brokerage): 11,286 followers
Susie Blackmon LLC (Independent real estate brokerage): 10,337 followers
Buyers Choice Realty (Independent real estate brokerage): 7,267 followers
Keller Williams Realty: 6,470 followers
Thompson’s Realty (Independent real estate brokerage): 6,242 followers (dammit, I need another 228 followers to surpass KW as NUMBER ONE! Oh, wait…)
RE/MAX International: 6,077 followers
Century 21: 5,875 followers
Coldwell Banker: 4,261 followers

Please note this list is by no means comprehensive. The five real estate companies that, ahem, place higher than Keller Williams in follower count were found in, oh… call it 30 seconds, by the crack research department here at Thompson’s Realty.

I did have one local Phoenix area KW agent ask me on Twitter, “Aren’t there bigger causes/more productive things you could question or try to solve?”

My response was, “Personally, I think a major RE brand making an apparently baseless claim IS a big deal. Your mileage may vary.”

This post didn’t start out as a rant against Keller Williams. Sorry if I ruffled some KW agents feathers, that wasn’t the intent. The intent was to point out the lunacy of proclaiming yourself “#1″ when you’ve got nothing, or faulty “research”, to back up that claim.

Fighting fraud has become a big part of the job for escrow and title professionals. We are not only protecting our company, but we are protecting lenders, buyers and sellers as well. The bad guys are very creative, as detailed in the following story

An order was opened with a title company and the person purporting to be the mortgage broker asked about the possibility of closing the loan herself while still having the title company perform the title work. A few days later, someone claiming to be from the mortgage company came by the title company’s office and asked if she could have some pens and pads. After a title company employee gave her the requested supplies, the mortgage broker also asked to use their closing room the next day to perform a document signing on the transaction they recently opened. The escrow officer told her she could not prepare the documents yet, as there were judgments and liens that still needed to be addressed.

The buyer called, indicating a closer from the title company had come by her office and had her sign all the documents, then left with her cashier’s check made out to the title company. She indicated the settlement statement showed a refund was due to the buyer and wanted to know where her refund was.

The title company’s manager asked for the issuing bank information from the buyer. After the title agent alerted the bank’s fraud department, the bank said the cashier’s check was deposited in a bank account under the title company’s name. The account had been opened just a few days prior – with what turned out to be a phony opening deposit!

With today’s technology, it’s simple to create official looking documents in order to commit a fraudulent act. The example above is just one of many…

Many lenders today require that the escrow company conduct the signing in their office or by their own employees to prevent the above scenario. Many escrow and title companies have employees that will conduct mobile signings or have business relationships with national mobile notary companies (with the necessary safeguards, including adequate E&O insurance) to combat fraud. Gone are the days of picking up a deed or loan package and getting them signed on your own. As with most things in life, the actions of a few can create additional hurdles for the rest…

So next time your escrow officer insists you or your client come into the office to sign, you’ll understand why the request is being made.

About the Author: Bill Risser is an Assistant Vice President and Branch Manager of the Chicago Title – Gilbert office.   You can find him at CT-Gilbert.com and on Twitter at @billrisser, that is, when he’s not on a local golf course with his son, at the movies with his wife,  or tending to one of his four fantasy leagues (NFL, MLB, PGA, and NASCAR).

Sometimes answering the phone is a predictable sport.

When home values drop 50% and the economy is shedding jobs like I wish I could burn calories writing posts (lots and fast), it seems that every call I get is so… predictable.

Hello, can you just answer one simple question for me? Do I have to be late on my payments in order to get help from my bank?

I have been asked this question no less than about 200 times in the last 2 years.

And usually after someone asks me the question, it is followed by fairly lengthy explanation of how they have never been late on their mortgage payment, have never been late on anything – and currently have a 700 (or higher) credit score.

In short, the callers are stressed out.

Photo Credit

As with many of the larger decisions in life, often times the stress of knowing you are going to have to make a decision is worse than the actual decision making itself.

Another thing that many people won’t tell you when you are short-selling your house is that once you make the decision to actually do it, your stress level will go down.

Or at least mine did.

And many other people that I have talked to have said the same thing.

Once you actually make a decision as to what the best choice is for your particular situation, your stress level will decrease.

Generally speaking.

So if you happen to be one of those people with a perfect credit score who finds that you are staying up late worrying about whether or not the time has come to short-sell your house, I have good news for you:

Once you make the decision – whatever it is – your stress level will decrease.

*sigh*

Long time readers already know one of my pet peeves is poor photos of homes for sale in the Multiple Listing Service.

Dean Ouellette uncovered this little nugget today:

Yes, that is the actual size of the photo uploaded into the MLS.

Nothing like displaying your client’s property in a stunning 65 x 42 pixel masterpiece.

I don’t even know how to take a picture this small…

The MLS resizes one photo to display as a “primary” photo with the listing information, so here’s what you get when it does its resizing:

Well that’s better.

In case you were wondering, here’s what the kitchen looks like:

And there is this lovely shot of the parking space:

Just for comparative purposes, here’s a kitchen  shot from one of our current listings. Of note, I had to reduce the size of this MLS photo to get it to display properly here:

In addition to photos, agents and potential buyers like to see a description of the home. The MLS provides space for this as well. ANNOYINGLY, MANY AGENTS WRITE THESE DESCRIPTIONS IN ALL CAPS. But even that is better then the description that accompanied these teeny-tiny photos. It read:

Remarks:

Yep. Completely blank.

Home Sellers – Please, please check the photos your agent submits to the MLS. Photos are one of the main factors in home buyers deciding to take a look at your property. If they can’t see it in pictures, they won’t bother seeing it in real life. A description, any description, helps too.

I’ve been toying with the thought of using “branded” short URLs for awhile now.

What’s a short URL, and why use one?

Short URLs take lengthy web page addresses like:

http://www.phoenixrealestateguy.com/the-seller-didnt-submit-my-offer-to-the-bank-on-a-short-sale/

and “convert” them to something significantly shorter. This is quite useful in applications that limit the number of characters you can use, such as Twitter and text messages.

There are several services that shorten URLs – bit.ly, tinyurl, and many others. And they work just fine.

But I wanted a short URL that “brands” Phoenix Real Estate Guy. I’ve had the domain name TPREG.com (The Phoenix Real Estate Guy) for awhile and never done much with it. Since it’s only 5 characters, it lends itself well to a branded short URL. All I needed was a relatively painless way to create short URLs.

Google, naturally, has an application to do just this.

You’ll need a Google Apps domain, and the ability to change MX and add CNAME records to that domain. It’s not as complicated as it may sound, Google will step you through it. However, unless you’re comfortable with changing these things and understand roughly what they are doing I highly suggest trying this first on a test domain, not your primary one. Changing MX records can really jack up existing email. Most of you won’t have email going to a short URL anyway, but better to be prudent than blow up your email account.

Cost for setting this up is zero.

The Google solution is pretty slick. It tracks clicks on shortened links (VERY useful) and has an API for those more technically adept than me.

An example of the branded short URL for this post is:

http://new.tpreg.com/001

Which is significantly shorter than:

http://www.phoenixrealestateguy.com/customized-short-urls-brand-your-links-on-twitter-sms-facebook-etc

Is creating a branded short URL worthwhile? I dunno. But it only took about 10 minutes, so I figured it can’t hurt. You’ll see them popping up on my Twitter page, and anywhere else that long URLs are a pain.

Hat tip to Dustin Luther for finally motivating me to get this done.

This just in from Ask the Broker:

Question: I put in an offer on a home that is in short sale, but the owner refused to submit my offer to the bank which was the highest offer given. He wants to remain in the home, with investor purchase. My agent told him we submitted an offer and it was still active, so the sellers agent removed from market. House goes in foreclosure 3/9/10/ What can I do to advise bank of my offer that the seller is withholding?

The short answer: there isn’t anything you can do.

The owner is not under any obligation what-so-ever to submit ANY offer to the lender. It doesn’t matter that your offer was the highest offer, it doesn’t matter if he wants to stay in the home. It’s his home, and he controls what offer does and does not go to the bank.

A short sale is really no different than a traditional sale in this matter. No one who puts their home on the market is obligated to consider any offer. In the case of a short sale, yes the lender has to approve an offer, but it is still the seller’s home, and they are in complete control over which offer – if any – is sent on to the lender.

It sounds here like the seller is hoping an investor will purchase his home and lease it back to him. As such, they are only going to submit offers from investors. It is well within their rights to do exactly that.

As an aside, while I don’t think this applies in this particular situation, buyers submitting offers on homes for sale need to remember that price isn’t the only factor sellers consider. See Making an Offer on a Home. It’s not all about the Benjamin’s… for some thoughts on factors that go into a seller’s decision to accept an offer.

Photo Credit: Valerie Everett on Flickr

Two years ago today, Francy and I opened Thompson’s Realty.

The original plan was for the brokerage to consist of Francy, one friend of ours, and me.

That plan failed miserably.

Today we have 19 agents, cover residential sales and property management and have offices in both Phoenix and Tucson.

Personally – and yes, I am biased – I think we have the best agents in the business. They are all bright, innovative, and work their tails off. Most importantly, all of our agents live and breath customer service. Without them, this brokerage simply could not exist. I thank them all from the bottom of my heart.

And a huge thanks to all of our clients who have trusted Thompson’s Realty to represent them. You don’t know how much we appreciate you.

We’re only two years old, and we have a long way to go before we grow up. But it’s been a fun ride so far and I’m certain the best is yet to come.

I’m really not any different than you are.

Even though I play a mortgage commentator on Twitter, it doesn’t mean that I am infected with mortgage rabies not a real person.

I like to think that if there ever was a focus group for everyday-Americans, I might even get an invite.

I am just normal.

And so I am going to let many of you other normal people in on a little secret — because according to my escrow agent,  you might be dealing with the same problem I have been dealing with:

Short selling your house.

Whether it makes sense or not, regardless of what reasons you may have for  short selling your house, I just thought I would let you in on one little secret that no one will really tell you about…

Short selling your house will put an abnormally large amount of stress on your marriage.

Just ask my wife.

Having met her when I was 11 and having been married for 16 or so years now – I can safely say that short selling our house was one of the more stress-inducing events we have been through.

And the strange thing is – no one warned us that she would want to kill me for about 10 months straight for being the one dumb enough to get us into the position where short selling our house seemed like a sane choice.

There are many reasons that short selling your house can harm your personal relationships – and not one of the relationship gurus wrote a word about how to deal with the process in all of the relationship books I have read over the last 12 months.

But chances are, at some point in the process – the ambiguity of it all will become beyond annoying and get at least one of you to the point of apathy.

And I once learned somewhere that there is only one feeling worse than hate: apathy.

So no matter what, if you find yourself in a position where you are selling your home for less than you owe your lender on it…

Make sure you know in advance that it will put an undue amount of stress on your marriage.

And now you can’t say that someone didn’t warn you about that part.

Photo Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/cdgleason/3471590779/

The $8,000 first time home buyer tax credit ($6,500 for existing homeowners) is scheduled to expire April 30 (sales contracts signed by April 30 have until June 30 to close).

I’ve written a LOT about this tax credit over the past year. Depending on who you chose to believe, the tax credit has been wildly successful or a miserable failure in helping the real estate market recover.

Personally, I think it falls somewhere in between those two extremes.

I’m sure some people have bought homes only because of the credit. Let’s face it, eight grand is a decent chunk of change.

But buying a home solely to score $8,000 is a bad idea. Do that, and you’ll likely find that $8K evaporates swiftly. “Incentivizing” people to buy homes is fundamentally a bad decision on the government’s part. Personally I have yet to run across a home buyer that is buying now solely because of the tax credit. I’ve heard other agents though claim it has increased sales. I wonder though, how many of these agents asked the specific question, “Are you buying now only because of the tax credit?” My guess is most people buying now and getting the tax credit would have bought in the near future anyway, and if that is the case, how exactly does this credit stimulate the housing market?

I’d rather see the government step out of trying to influence the real estate market. It will self-correct, albeit not as quickly as most would like.

Now word is starting to trickle out of Washington, D.C. that certain entities (notably the NAR — National Association of Realtors) are lobbying Congress for yet another extension of the home buyer tax credit (see Wall Street Journal, Take Three; Will Congress Extend the Home Buyer Tax Credit?).

From the NAR’s website:

NAR Policy:

NAR strongly supports the first-time homebuyer credit. NAR also believes it should be extended through 2010.

Legislative/Regulatory Status/Outlook:

Senate Finance Committee Chairman has taken a very vocal and strong position that the homebuyer credit will not be extended again and that it will expire on April 30, 2010, as presently scheduled. The transition rule through July 1 will be retained.

My gut feeling is the tax credit will not be extended again. During the debate on the current extension last February, several Congressmen and Senators publicly stated that would be the last extension. Now these are politicians of course, and we all know they can flip-flop on statements and issues. I just called Senator Johnny Isakson’s office and spoke to one of his staffers. Senator Isakson was the Senator who pushed hardest for the original tax credit and the last extension. His staffer Ryan told me there was currently no planned legislation that she was aware of and that Senator Isakson currently had no intention of introducing legislation to extend the credit again.

That’s not to say that some other Senator or Congressman couldn’t step up and try to take this on. The NAR has a lot of pull in D.C. and I suspect (but have not been able to confirm yet) that other Realtor associations, home builders and the like will push the lobbying efforts to extend the credit.

Time will tell I suppose. Prior to the last extension I would have bet big on the extension. Right now, I’d bet that is will not be extended. I certainly could be wrong. That happened once.

Here are result of a completely unscientific poll I took before the last extension:

I’ve opened up a new poll asking if the tax credit should be extended again. I’d appreciate it if you could take this poll and you are of course welcome and encouraged to leave a comment on how you feel about the tax credit being extended again.

In hindsight, I should have added a “no opinion” option on the poll. Let’s face it though, you probably should have an opinion, even if you have zero intention of using the tax credit. Whether you utilize it or not, you’re paying for it…

Frequently the questions (actually, usually it’s the answers) on Trulia Voices make me want to slam my head into a wall. Trulia Voices is a “online community” where real estate buyers, sellers and professionals can ask and answer questions of any topic relating to real estate.

Head-slamming content aside, there are also thought-provoking discussions that occur on occasion.

Recently, “George S” a home buyer in Anthem, AZ posed this question:

I had an offer of $205,000 that was being considered by the bank on a property listed for $225000. Suddenly, at the last moment, the listing agent told my agent that there was another offer of $220000 that the bank was considering. We matched that price and got the property. But now I am wondering what proof is there that this offer really existed and that the listing agent was just not jacking the price up.

That’s a great question.

Here was my first response:

George –

You won’t get proof. I understand why you’re asking, but the bank isn’t going to provide the proof.

This happens all the time on bank owned properties.

Consider this. The listing agent’s commission was probably in the range of 3% of sales price. So if the sale went through at $205K, the listing agent’s commission would be $6,150. If the listing agent jacked up the price to $220K, the commission would be $6,600 — a difference of $450.
Most bank owned property listing agents work bank owned homes exclusively, and usually have multiple listings from the same lenders.

If the agent "jacks up" the price to make an extra $450, they risk blowing the sale completely, upsetting the bank, who then pulls ALL their listings from the agent.

It would take an utter fool to make that huge risk for $450. (and the difference is probably even less than $450 as the commissions paid to bank-owned listers is quite often less than 3%.)

And I’m sticking by that. It would take an utter fool of a listing agent to claim there were other offers when none existed.

But then Voices uber-user Dunes correctly pointed out that, sadly, utter fools exist in the real estate space (and lets face it, every other space).

A couple of months ago we had a client that submitted an offer on a home that had been listed for 73 days. A couple of hours after the offer was sent in, the listing agent called and said something to the effect of, “Just wanted you to know that we got another offer in today, so the seller is requesting that you submit your ‘highest and best’ offer. I pointed out that it was a remarkable coincidence that two offers came in that morning on a listing that had been on the market for 73 days. After consulting with our client, we informed the listing agent that the offer submitted WAS the ‘highest and best’. In yet another remarkable coincidence, our clients offer was accepted the next day.

Maybe there really was another offer. More likely, the agent tried to employ a “tactic” of claiming there were other offers in an attempt to squeeze more money from our client – and for his seller. A noble gesture, but one that rarely works.

This brings up the question though of whether competing offers should be disclosed, and more precisely to the point of debate on the Trulia thread, should the existence of competing offers somehow be proved to other buyers interested in the property?

Let’s say for the sake of argument that if a listing agent says, “We have other offers,” that proof must be provided. How is that going to work? I can assure you that I’m not about to release ANY information on my buyer’s offer that could compromise their position. On the Trulia thread Alan May (who seems like a stand up guy) suggested the listing agent provide a copy of the offer to other buyer agents.

Well not if there is ANYTHING in that offer that could compromise my buyers position. That would include, but not be limited to, items such as:

• The buyer’s name and their contact info
• The offer price
• The financing terms
• The amount of earnest money
• The closing date
• Any contingencies
• Any requested concessions
• Any variation of the standard boilerplate contract language

Personally, I don’t see what good an “offer” that was missing this information would do anyone. Alan said with the other buyers agent’s name, that he could call that agent just to confirm they had submitted an offer.

My initial reaction to a buyer’s agent calling me to see if I have a buyer with an offer in on the property is, “it’s none of your business”.

Why should I compromise my buyers position so your buyer can feel better? (or submit a stronger offer than they were considering – potentially displacing my buyer’s offer).

“But Jay, how does simply confirming your client has submitted an offer – if no details are provided – compromise your buyers position?

Quite simply, having another buyer and their agent with ANY information regarding my buyer potentially compromises them. And if there is but a sliver of a chance of compromising my clients position then I’m not doing it, plain and simple.

Say I tell Agent Joe that yes, we’ve submitted an offer on 123 Main Street. Joe then tells his client, “Yep. Someone has an offer in”. Joe’s client may then think, “Well crap. I really want that house. I was ready to submit a low offer in the hopes the seller would bite. But now since someone else is already in the mix, I better beef this offer up and go all in.”

BAM. My client’s position has potentially been compromised.

In fact, Agent Joe just compromised HIS clients position by calling me and informing me they are interested. With that info, albeit limited, I call my client and say, “Hey, just got word someone is thinking about jumping in on 123 Main St. Let’s get this thing wrapped up before they get a chance at it.” And BAM, now Joe’s client is left out.

Alan suggested that a third party could be sent the offer for confirmation. He even suggested broker for example.

But no broker with an agent involved in the transaction can be considered a neutral party. Regardless of how ethical and upstanding they may be, that broker has a responsibility to represent that client. In fact, they owe that client a fiduciary duty. There’s no way I’m sending my clients offer to another broker who has a client interested in the property. NO WAY.

It was suggested the agent’s association could vet the offer and confirm its existence. My association has 8 or 9 employees to service 8,000 agents. I can’t imagine dumping “offer confirmation” on an Association. They don’t have the time or resources to handle what could be hundreds of offers a day. And what if the competing agents are in different associations? The association as a “neutral party” won’t work.

I suppose some enterprising start-up could develop an “offer confirmation service”, but that is fraught with issues as well. How would confidentiality be maintained? What would it cost, and who would absorb those costs? How much time would it add to an already lengthy and convoluted process?

To be honest, I can’t think of a way to prove there are competing offers.

Don’t get me wrong, I understand completely the prospective buyers position here. My initial response talked about the $450 that would go to the agent for “jacking up the price”, but there is difference of 15 grand in this case to the buyer. That’s a serious chunk of change, even spread across a 30 year mortgage. I get why a buyer wants confirmation that other offers exist on a property of interest. Sadly, John Q. Public doesn’t have a lot of trust in real estate agents. The vast majority of that this industry has brought upon ourselves. Simply saying, “trust me, there have been other offers submitted” isn’t going to fly. That so many try this “send us your highest and best offer” ploy doesn’t help. I also understand a listing agents desire to get the most money for their seller. That’s what listing agents do, and rightfully so.

So I sit here struggling, writing a 1500 word tome that provides no real answers. Should anyone have happened to read this far, I’d love to hear your thoughts. Should proof of competing offers be provided to other potential buyers? If so, any suggestions for how to do that without compromising the position of any of the parties involved?