Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Louisiana

Re: submitting an offer to purchase a home

You are probably not going to like this advice, but I would suggest you look for another house. I suspect you are exactly correct that this real estate agent played games to assist the other guy to get the house and grab the entire commission. I wouldn't be surprised to find out that the offer on the purchase agreement is identical to your offer (if she saw your offer, she could have told the other couple what price to put in their offer). I don't know of any way you can see their offer (short of filing a suit and getting it in discovery), but when the sale occurs, you can see the purchase price in the recorded copy of the act of sale if you really want to know.

The reason I am suggesting that you look for another property is because you have an almost impossible task to prove the collusion theory even if it is true. Dishonest people are likely to lie on the witness stand and simply state it was a coincidence that their offer was the same as yours. If it was lower, that still doesn't preclude the seller from selling the house to an alternate seller that they like for some reason or other. They are not obligated to sell to the highest bidder (most of the time they do because they want the money).

It would be even more difficult to force the seller to sell you the house even if you prove the collusion theory between the buyer and the real estate agent. All of this would require litigation. That will be messy, very expensive, and there is far from a guarantee of a favorable outcome. Any one of those factors should be enough to discourage you from going that route, but when all three align, it is a clear signal to go somewhere else.

I will relate to you the story of my wife and the Christmas tree. I have always told her that when you go to the Christmas tree lot, never fall in love with a particular tree. If you do, the salesman knows he has you, and can pretty much charge whatever he likes. On the other hand, if you shop with the knowledge that if you don't get a particular tree, there will be several others in the lot that will be just as nice or nicer, you can negotiate a much better deal, and still wind up with a Christmas tree that will make you very happy.

The same analogy applies to buying a home. Yes, this particular house may have had all the amenities you desired and was within your price range, but there are lots of other houses available and you should be able to find one that will make you equally happy or happier. This deal just didn't work out, and my advice is to move on. I am fairly confident that you will find another house that will be just as nice or nicer. I'm sure when you think about it, there were some things about the house that you didn't like. The next home won't be perfect either, but none of them ever are.

Re: submitting an offer to purchase a home

An offer is an offer....if the seller told the other offering party that if they matched yours that he would sell it to them, then there is nothing you can do about it. Even if your offer was more than the other one, the seller does not have to take the higher one.

Re: submitting an offer to purchase a home

The listing agent is not "entitled" to see the other offer.

HOWEVER, the listing agent is REQUIRED to give back a copy of his/her rejected offer, timed, dated and signed by the seller.

This is the documentation you needs to make sure that his offer was submitted to the seller without hanky panky and in a timely fashion.

There have been many cases where the seller took a lower offer because they knew the purchaser, felt one buyer was more qualified than another based upon additional facts presented with the offer, or they felt doing the showing that they "liked" one party over another when they happened to meet--which is legal.

It is virtually impossible for the two offers to be for the "same" amount".

Of course, once you recieve the documentation from your agent--if you can prove that their was an irregularity with the documents presented to you--then you can file a complaint with the Louisiana Real Estate Commission.

Hope this helps.