Real Estate Hell

Two weeks ago we put an offer on a property outside the city. Finally we had found something local in our price range, after months of seeking in a state over, and getting screwed on a deal there. And then offering on one in town, and being outbid.

The first rejection of the offer came in within a couple of days. So we went at it with a slightly higher amount between the price we offered, and the price it was listed for. And then we waited...and waited...and our agent called the seller agent after a couple days and he said they were thinking about it...and then we waited...and waited...and on Saturday (a week after our second offer) our agent called the seller agent and he said "Oh, wow, thanks for reminding me!"...and then we waited...and waited...

Finally we told James to make our agent call him again tonight. And low and behold, there had been an e-mail today from the seller agent. No, the seller agent says, the sellers wants to stick for the asking price; and OH, there's someone else interested now. (after FIVE months on the market with no bites but ours, mind you, because it's already had a $25,000 price drop since it was first listed)

What. The. Fuck.

Turns out, in doing research, there could actually be no other offer, there's no way to hold an agent accountable for artificially creating a bidding war...unless you can prove it with an expensive lawsuit, of course.

So here we are, offering the full asking price, and who knows, maybe we'll get into a bidding war with a ghost.