PLEASE DON’T PROMISE YOUR BUYERS THAT THEIR OFFER IS ACCEPTED

August 16th, 2011 at 11:42 pm

Over the past 6 months, I have received numerous angry phone calls from outside buyers and their agents that all arise from similar circumstances. In each case, the buyer made an offer for a property listed by Prudential. In each case, the parties negotiated regarding that offer and, at some point, the buyer or their agent was told that the seller “was going to accept the offer.” Of course, that promise was made before the listing agent ever received a signed acceptance from the seller and before they were told to deliver that acceptance to the buyer. As you can imagine, in each case the seller changed his/her mind after the promise was made and the buyer now had to be told that they were not getting the property. Of course, when the buyer received this message, they were not very happy. By making the promise in the first place, we created expectations that were not met. And, as a result, we created an unhappy consumer.

Understand that, from a legal perspective, this is not a big deal. The buyer never got a signed acceptance so they clearly have no binding contract. That, however, does not change the fact that, by having to renege on an unnecessary promise, we are creating a very unhappy consumer and significant public relations headaches for ourselves. The selling agent often believes that we really have another buyer who we are representing and suspicion and mistrust grows among everyone. The buyer usually really wants the house, and without their false expectations, may have been willing to pay more, or do whatever the seller wants in order to buy it. In either case, the promise accomplishes nothing and runs the risk of creating big problems. If anything, you can tell the buyer that you are “hopeful” but have to wait until you get the seller’s signature. That way, you are being legally accurate and don’t create any false expectations. As we have told you many times, creating real expectations in all aspects of your business will help keep everyone, including your clients and the public at large, happy.

Thanks, and as always, feel free to contact us with any questions you may have.

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