There is a penomenon currently ongoing in the real estate industry. Amidst the critical shortage of inventory in housing. It is as much of an illusion as was created by the snake oil salesman in your great grandmother's day. Just as Dr. Magic Medicine convinced those about them to purchase his elixir of joy and happiness so does the unscrupulous realtor of today convince people to " hurry, hurry come quickly." This realtor, who lives by the Code of Ethics of the NAR, convinces you to come see a new listing that they just placed on the market.
The price is contrived at a below market price that stands out in a property search. The poor consumer who has been searching diligently for a home sees it and rushes to view it. They fall in love with it and immediately move to put in an offer on the property. Unbeknownst to the buyer the intent of the listing agent is to line up a host of offers. They will communicate to all who have come to the trough at a later date that there has been a plethora of lookers and several offers. The seller will make a decision on who gets the gold mine and who gets the shaft a little later. However first asks the selling agent " Is this your highest and best offer?" Do you want to amend your offer upwards a bit? The seller will be making a decision as to who gets the house tomorrow at noon."
Noon comes and goes. The buyer gets a call from their agent telling them, sorry but your offer did not pass muster. The winning bid came in at $100,000 over asking price. Better luck next time. Bid? What bid? We made a bonafide offer based on comparables and where you set the coming to market price. You are making this whole process sound like a cattle auction. Why not just sell raffle tickets and draw a winning number and sell the house that way. Oh no we couldnt do that. Why not? It sounds no less disengenuous than this "coming soon" phoney baloney.
Feelings are hurt. The people looking are still out doing so. There is something wrong with this approach. Realtor Associations are built upon the principle of cooperation between members of the association. Where is the cooperation within this process?
In my humble opinion this needs to be addressed. It is a system that is driven by greed and selfishness. It flies outside of the free enterprise system.
" Ladies and gentleman, cries the huckster. Come one and all. Listen to the features of Dr. Feel Goods magic elixir." It will make you want to jump over buildings. The energy it produces should be outlawed.
Something ought to outlawed allright. Or at a minimum restructured in the direction of honesty and integrity.
