Listing Agent: “I’m Presenting Offers Tomorrow Night at 6 p.m.”

Seller Semantics

“As I am smoking . . . I don’t expect to be thanked.”

–What John Hurt’s character — in “Love and Death on Long Island” (1997) — says to the cab driver, when the latter points to the cab’s “Thank You For Not Smoking” sign, and asks Hurt to extinguish his cigarette.

Shortly after showing their client a new-on-the market home, the Buyer’s agent received an email from the listing agent asking if their client had interest, because she “was presenting offers tomorrow night at 6 p.m.”

Which of the following conclusions could the Buyer’s agent reasonably draw?

A. The agent had already received multiple offers on the home, which she would be presenting to the Seller at 6 p.m. the following night.

B. The agent intended to present any offers she received (future tense) the next night.

C. The agent had received one offer, which she intended to present along with any other offers that came in in the next day.

Answer: all of the above.

Surprise, surprise, the Buyer’s agent in the not-so-hypothetical above was me.

Embellishing Buyer Interest?

Clearly, the listing agent’s email was intended to suggest “Scenario A.”

However, after a brief exchange, it became clear that the real answer was “C.”:  the listing agent only had one written offer in hand — the only kind that matter — plus expressions of verbal interest from multiple parties.

At least in my experience:  a) that second category is easy for listing agents to fudge; and b) even when verbal interest is real, such Buyers frequently fail to write offers (or, at least good ones).

See, “Are There Other Interested Buyers?”; and “Is it REALLY in Multiples?  How to Tell.”

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