Selling a property - multiple offers of same value?












1














In the U.S., when selling a residential property, is there a rule or law regarding how to handle multiple offers of the exact same monetary amount? Is this the kind of thing that would vary state-by-state?



Myself and family made an offer on a property first and the seller's real estate agent claimed that the sellers wanted to wait for more offers that they expected to be coming in shortly. Ultimately, our offer was rejected, but tax records show the property was sold for the exact value of our offer.



So my question is: is it completely and arbitrarily up to the seller to pick between multiple offers of the exact same value?



Part of the reason I'm asking is because we(myself and family) have suspicion to believe there may be a strong connection between the buyer and seller's real estate agent. And would it be considered fraud and would there be any recourse if the seller's real estate agent withheld offers from the sellers to allow a personal connection to swoop in?



Understandably, that last bit is a strong accusation and would certainly require proof, but I'm really trying to determine if what we suspect actually occurred, would it actually be considered fraudulent, or is a seller allowed to arbitrarily pick and choose an offer regardless of price/order that the offer arrived? Would it only be considered fraudulent if the seller was unaware of a higher/better offer?










share|improve this question





























    1














    In the U.S., when selling a residential property, is there a rule or law regarding how to handle multiple offers of the exact same monetary amount? Is this the kind of thing that would vary state-by-state?



    Myself and family made an offer on a property first and the seller's real estate agent claimed that the sellers wanted to wait for more offers that they expected to be coming in shortly. Ultimately, our offer was rejected, but tax records show the property was sold for the exact value of our offer.



    So my question is: is it completely and arbitrarily up to the seller to pick between multiple offers of the exact same value?



    Part of the reason I'm asking is because we(myself and family) have suspicion to believe there may be a strong connection between the buyer and seller's real estate agent. And would it be considered fraud and would there be any recourse if the seller's real estate agent withheld offers from the sellers to allow a personal connection to swoop in?



    Understandably, that last bit is a strong accusation and would certainly require proof, but I'm really trying to determine if what we suspect actually occurred, would it actually be considered fraudulent, or is a seller allowed to arbitrarily pick and choose an offer regardless of price/order that the offer arrived? Would it only be considered fraudulent if the seller was unaware of a higher/better offer?










    share|improve this question



























      1












      1








      1







      In the U.S., when selling a residential property, is there a rule or law regarding how to handle multiple offers of the exact same monetary amount? Is this the kind of thing that would vary state-by-state?



      Myself and family made an offer on a property first and the seller's real estate agent claimed that the sellers wanted to wait for more offers that they expected to be coming in shortly. Ultimately, our offer was rejected, but tax records show the property was sold for the exact value of our offer.



      So my question is: is it completely and arbitrarily up to the seller to pick between multiple offers of the exact same value?



      Part of the reason I'm asking is because we(myself and family) have suspicion to believe there may be a strong connection between the buyer and seller's real estate agent. And would it be considered fraud and would there be any recourse if the seller's real estate agent withheld offers from the sellers to allow a personal connection to swoop in?



      Understandably, that last bit is a strong accusation and would certainly require proof, but I'm really trying to determine if what we suspect actually occurred, would it actually be considered fraudulent, or is a seller allowed to arbitrarily pick and choose an offer regardless of price/order that the offer arrived? Would it only be considered fraudulent if the seller was unaware of a higher/better offer?










      share|improve this question















      In the U.S., when selling a residential property, is there a rule or law regarding how to handle multiple offers of the exact same monetary amount? Is this the kind of thing that would vary state-by-state?



      Myself and family made an offer on a property first and the seller's real estate agent claimed that the sellers wanted to wait for more offers that they expected to be coming in shortly. Ultimately, our offer was rejected, but tax records show the property was sold for the exact value of our offer.



      So my question is: is it completely and arbitrarily up to the seller to pick between multiple offers of the exact same value?



      Part of the reason I'm asking is because we(myself and family) have suspicion to believe there may be a strong connection between the buyer and seller's real estate agent. And would it be considered fraud and would there be any recourse if the seller's real estate agent withheld offers from the sellers to allow a personal connection to swoop in?



      Understandably, that last bit is a strong accusation and would certainly require proof, but I'm really trying to determine if what we suspect actually occurred, would it actually be considered fraudulent, or is a seller allowed to arbitrarily pick and choose an offer regardless of price/order that the offer arrived? Would it only be considered fraudulent if the seller was unaware of a higher/better offer?







      united-states real-estate law






      share|improve this question















      share|improve this question













      share|improve this question




      share|improve this question








      edited 1 hour ago









      Dheer

      49.6k962146




      49.6k962146










      asked 1 hour ago









      krb686

      1443




      1443






















          1 Answer
          1






          active

          oldest

          votes


















          3














          There are no rules about how to handle equal offers. A seller is free to accept any offer they want. They don't even have to accept the highest offer if they don't want to.



          However there are rules of conduct for real estate agents. If an agent does not fairly represent all offers to a seller - especially if they favour a buyer they also represent - then they are breaking the rules. In the worst case, if they communicated an offer to a seller this may be fraud. If you suspect this then you should contact the organization that regulates real estate agents where you are.






          share|improve this answer





















            Your Answer








            StackExchange.ready(function() {
            var channelOptions = {
            tags: "".split(" "),
            id: "93"
            };
            initTagRenderer("".split(" "), "".split(" "), channelOptions);

            StackExchange.using("externalEditor", function() {
            // Have to fire editor after snippets, if snippets enabled
            if (StackExchange.settings.snippets.snippetsEnabled) {
            StackExchange.using("snippets", function() {
            createEditor();
            });
            }
            else {
            createEditor();
            }
            });

            function createEditor() {
            StackExchange.prepareEditor({
            heartbeatType: 'answer',
            autoActivateHeartbeat: false,
            convertImagesToLinks: true,
            noModals: true,
            showLowRepImageUploadWarning: true,
            reputationToPostImages: 10,
            bindNavPrevention: true,
            postfix: "",
            imageUploader: {
            brandingHtml: "Powered by u003ca class="icon-imgur-white" href="https://imgur.com/"u003eu003c/au003e",
            contentPolicyHtml: "User contributions licensed under u003ca href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/"u003ecc by-sa 3.0 with attribution requiredu003c/au003e u003ca href="https://stackoverflow.com/legal/content-policy"u003e(content policy)u003c/au003e",
            allowUrls: true
            },
            noCode: true, onDemand: true,
            discardSelector: ".discard-answer"
            ,immediatelyShowMarkdownHelp:true
            });


            }
            });














            draft saved

            draft discarded


















            StackExchange.ready(
            function () {
            StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fmoney.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f103749%2fselling-a-property-multiple-offers-of-same-value%23new-answer', 'question_page');
            }
            );

            Post as a guest















            Required, but never shown

























            1 Answer
            1






            active

            oldest

            votes








            1 Answer
            1






            active

            oldest

            votes









            active

            oldest

            votes






            active

            oldest

            votes









            3














            There are no rules about how to handle equal offers. A seller is free to accept any offer they want. They don't even have to accept the highest offer if they don't want to.



            However there are rules of conduct for real estate agents. If an agent does not fairly represent all offers to a seller - especially if they favour a buyer they also represent - then they are breaking the rules. In the worst case, if they communicated an offer to a seller this may be fraud. If you suspect this then you should contact the organization that regulates real estate agents where you are.






            share|improve this answer


























              3














              There are no rules about how to handle equal offers. A seller is free to accept any offer they want. They don't even have to accept the highest offer if they don't want to.



              However there are rules of conduct for real estate agents. If an agent does not fairly represent all offers to a seller - especially if they favour a buyer they also represent - then they are breaking the rules. In the worst case, if they communicated an offer to a seller this may be fraud. If you suspect this then you should contact the organization that regulates real estate agents where you are.






              share|improve this answer
























                3












                3








                3






                There are no rules about how to handle equal offers. A seller is free to accept any offer they want. They don't even have to accept the highest offer if they don't want to.



                However there are rules of conduct for real estate agents. If an agent does not fairly represent all offers to a seller - especially if they favour a buyer they also represent - then they are breaking the rules. In the worst case, if they communicated an offer to a seller this may be fraud. If you suspect this then you should contact the organization that regulates real estate agents where you are.






                share|improve this answer












                There are no rules about how to handle equal offers. A seller is free to accept any offer they want. They don't even have to accept the highest offer if they don't want to.



                However there are rules of conduct for real estate agents. If an agent does not fairly represent all offers to a seller - especially if they favour a buyer they also represent - then they are breaking the rules. In the worst case, if they communicated an offer to a seller this may be fraud. If you suspect this then you should contact the organization that regulates real estate agents where you are.







                share|improve this answer












                share|improve this answer



                share|improve this answer










                answered 1 hour ago









                DJClayworth

                14.5k14569




                14.5k14569






























                    draft saved

                    draft discarded




















































                    Thanks for contributing an answer to Personal Finance & Money Stack Exchange!


                    • Please be sure to answer the question. Provide details and share your research!

                    But avoid



                    • Asking for help, clarification, or responding to other answers.

                    • Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience.


                    To learn more, see our tips on writing great answers.





                    Some of your past answers have not been well-received, and you're in danger of being blocked from answering.


                    Please pay close attention to the following guidance:


                    • Please be sure to answer the question. Provide details and share your research!

                    But avoid



                    • Asking for help, clarification, or responding to other answers.

                    • Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience.


                    To learn more, see our tips on writing great answers.




                    draft saved


                    draft discarded














                    StackExchange.ready(
                    function () {
                    StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fmoney.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f103749%2fselling-a-property-multiple-offers-of-same-value%23new-answer', 'question_page');
                    }
                    );

                    Post as a guest















                    Required, but never shown





















































                    Required, but never shown














                    Required, but never shown












                    Required, but never shown







                    Required, but never shown

































                    Required, but never shown














                    Required, but never shown












                    Required, but never shown







                    Required, but never shown







                    Popular posts from this blog

                    What visual should I use to simply compare current year value vs last year in Power BI desktop

                    Alexandru Averescu

                    Trompette piccolo