Wow!  Karen, you must work in your Seller's best interests.  Amount of offer, terms, etc.   What works best for them.

Here's a possible solution.  Ask all Buyers to submit their highest and best offers in a sealed envelope, not to be opened until at the table with the Seller.  Invite any other Buyer Agents involved to be present thereby eliminating any charges of favoritism.  If the other Agents don't accept, at least you asked, just to be above board.

Once they're opened, you and Sellers discuss pros and cons of each.  Other Agents, if they choose to be present (is it that important to them?) will be able to offer their point of view.  

Your Sellers don't have to make a decision on the spot and they need to be told this before the offers are presented.  They get 24 hours to decide....and they can still decide not to sell at any of the prices/terms offered!  It's all up to them.  It's still their house!

There is no such thing as a verbal offer. Period.

Karen, I didn't mean to infer that you would place your own offer above others.  I apologize if it sounded that way.  I was just trying to give you a way to avoid the "appearance" of impropriety.  We've done this on several occasions.  In some cases, our offer has been accepted, on others, not.  It's all about what the Seller's want.  Good Luck!

Karen verbal is not in writing.  I have had some verbals that mysteriously changed once we got the paperwork.  It is time to bring in your Broker.  Call the buyer's agent and let them know not to submit their offer to you but to your Broker, you submit your offer to your Broker also.  Let your Broker deal with the seller.  If the buyer's agent wants to be present that is even better.  Have them present their offer to your seller & the Broker, then you can present your offer.  Best offer wins.  :)  I will pull for you!

Jana

I agree with Brian. With verbal communication, there can always be miscommunication. I always advise my clients to request a written offer and all negotiations to be done with counter offers only...no verbal negotiations. That way everything is on paper. The use of multiple offers with multiple counters work to eliminate any appearance of impropriety.

I can give you "verbal" acceptance right now and I do not even know you.

LOL Radley . . . "verbal's ain't worth the paper they're not written on" is what we always say.

I like Jana's approach. . . get a little elbow room between Karen and the offer(s) and let the broker help.

The GREAT news is that you have some offers for your seller. Or, should I say, potential offers.

It's feast or famine in this biz . . .

I made the mistake of giving a verbal offer to an agent last week...the seller was very very motivated...my buyers are cash buyers from the UK...the seller went down from 350K (one year ago on the market for 439K) to 315K....all of this verbal...went for tea with my whole family (invited by buyers) and they backed out....I was devastated and felt really bad for the seller and the other agent.  I never give verbals and I am not sure why I did for this particular couple....I have to remind myself no no no verbals...

As far as your own offer...the only time i had problems with agents having their own offers is that they take a point or two off their commisions to make it more appealing to the seller..and then you are out of deal...i like Cathy's idea to request to be there when the offers are presented....

There is no deal til its signed by both parties.

"All verbal offers are best in writing."

As far as your buyers go, maybe you should have someone in your office do their negotiations, if you feel you can't do both sides.

I swore I would never do a verbal offer again, until this week when a buyer gave me a verbal offer on a recreational property that I had listed. We negotiated an acceptable offer which both parties were happy with. Scheduled a meeting with the buyers to come in and sign the offer. You guessed it ...the buyers backed away.

I swear I will never do a verbal offer again.(at least till the next time)

Verbal Offer?  Accepted verbal offer?  That would be an agreement, not a contract.  Therefore it doesn't exist.  Tell the verbal offer agent that you are writing an offer yourself and give him the time and place that the offers will be dealt with.  If the other agent kicks and screams, that's their problem- they should have put in on paper on day 1.

Wait, I thought we had a "verbal" agreement.  I want keys to the house.

Sorry Radley, I forgot.  Obviously the house is yours!

There is no such thing as an accepted verbal offer in real estate.  You are just talking.  Nothing is final until it is signed and until that time you should, as a duty to your clients, present all offers, which is Texas is your duty.

Verbal offers are lame.  I understand that we all do it but it really means nothing and usually is a sign that someone is not really serious.  The agents of the other parties should know better.  If one party losses out to the other then they can blame nobody but themselves and their agent for not explaining that a verbal agreement is just plain talk and nothing more.

I have no come to a point in my life where I just laugh when an agent tries to give me a verbal offer.  I may listen but only b/c they are usually giving away some bit of information that I can use against them in negotiations, that is is I ever get the real written agreement.

The only time I do verbal is after I have r/c an initial offer and even then I know it is just me hearing myself speak.  it really is a waste of time but sometimes the counter can be a waste as well.

By the way if you got a full price offer and your clients are in no hurry to sell don't settle for some other offer just b/c they are disappointed about losing out.  They have waited this long and obviously someone agrees w/ the asking price.  

Good Luck and I hope it works out for you.

Christina Stevens

www.Galveston4sale.com

www.SanAntonio4sale.net

www.LasVegas4sale.net

Okay Tom, I will "assign" you my interest in the property for lots of cash.  One million.

Radley / Atlanta

A verbal offer is not an offer ... It has to be in writing.  I would confirm with the other agent that they understand that ... and, that you are going to review other offers.

I learned a hard lesson on this a few months ago.  I have an $8M listing and we got a written offer in on it for substantially less.  I sent it to the seller who chose not to respond.  I passed this on to the buyer's agent who then came back with a verbal offer.  That offer was within the range that my seller countered back verbally.

When I pressed the agent to put a response in writing ... he said that his buyer hadn't made the offer nor had he presented it that way (total falsehood) ...  & he was just trying to get a range to work in.

The bottom-line is that if my seller had accepted the initial verbal, I would have been in deep do-do.  At a minimum, I would  have lost the listing.  Worst, it would have had legal ramifications.  I was pretty scared once I fiqured out what the other agent had left me hanging in the wind.

So, no more verbals for me.  If it isn't in writing, I don't present it to my clients.

Talk, talk, talk, talk.  Nothing in writing means no offer.  It is so easy to retract a verbal.  Get it in writing for your own benefit.

Gloria you have no need to retract a verbal, since it isn't a contract in the first place.  Radley- I verbally accept your verbal assisgnment of the interest you verbally obtained in the property in question.  I wouldn't mind verbally flipping it for $2 million.  Verbal offers only please.

Tom:

You just retracted a verbal verbally.  That is not fair.

Can you hear me now??

Ok there is no verbal anything.

Always get everything in writing.

Vance

Hello - I don't know if this blog is just for TX, but I am from MA and I have an agent who is telling me they have a verbally accepted offer and that her seller's are bound to that. She said my buyers could put in an offer but it would be a back-up offer. (This is all after she told me the property was still available that day I was going to show it.) So basically the listing agent is telling her seller that they are legally bound to their verbal acceptance! Any advice on getting through to her so that our offer is up for consideration and not a back up.

Everything is in writing! Send your offer by certified mail and request a signed response within 3 business days. CC a copy to the owner listed in the tax records.

Thanks - the certified mail is a great idea. I typically require a response within 24 hours. Here in MA we rarely present our offers in person - almost always by fax. In this case, it would have been helpful. In terms of the owner, she is in a nursing home and her ederly sister and brother-in-law are in charge of the sale and they are pretty much being controlled by their agent who has convinced them that the other verbal agreement is binding. Honestly, I don't know how some agents are able to even be in business - many shouldn't.

Danger "Will Robinson"....sending an offer for a listed property directly to the OWNER may be a violation of the Realtor's ethics code (COE) where you are....It would be a violation here in Portland, Oregon....

I realize the frustration, but the seller has granted the listing agent an exclusive right which must me respected.

Yes, in MA, you can't contact a seller directly when contracted with an agent.

Good catch, Phil. I should have made it a CC to the Board of Realtors : )

Ever notice the coe has like 3 articles that protect the buyer and seller and like 16 to protect the agent ;-)