More Than Asking Price?

Dear Edith: After looking at a house a second time, I told my agent I would like to make an offer on it the next day. That evening my agent said the listing agent had told her that there was another "very good" offer being prepared. My agent suggested I write a contract immediately before the other one could be presented.

Instead of trying to offer the price and terms I wanted, I was convinced that in order to have my offer accepted, I should offer $500 over the asking price. This was accepted by the sellers.

What are the chances that either agent duped me? - E.K.N.

Slim.

It really is sometimes advisable to make an offer for more than the asking price, particularly when property is newly listed at a no-nonsense figure.

Of course I can't know whether any particular person is honest, but consider this: by the time the commission was divided among listing office, listing agent, selling office and selling agent, "your" agent probably stood to make about $7 if you paid $500 more. Hardly seems worth lying about.

Neither one was your agent, by the way, unless you had specifically hired a buyer's broker. Both were working for the seller. Both agents had special legal obligations to the seller, including obtaining the best price for the house. They were also, however, required by law to deal honestly with buyers.

This Homebuyers Tip was excerpted from:

Dear Edith...On Real Estate, by Edith Lank, Longman Financial Services Publishing, 1990.

ISBN# 0793100070