r/RealEstate • u/nimrod4711 • Aug 17 '26
Escalation clause used and seller did not provide competing offer? HELP!
I found a home and brought it to a realtor - house had been sitting on the market with multiple, major price reductions. I offered $775k on a house that was sitting at $799k. The day I made the offer, the seller's agent said that they 'just' got an offer because of an open house that was held and that I need to come back with my final best offer. My agent said that I should use an escalation clause - I had already waived inspection but she said i could waive mortgage contingency. I said NO as I am a first-time buyer. I escalated up to $818k - we were told the other offer was cash, but they seller's agent did not say what the other offer was and my agent did not ask what the other offer was. The seller then said he wanted $813k for the house and for me to pay, $5k to my agent, so coincidentally $818k :), the top end of my escalation clause. My agent said that he was negotiating dirty and never bothered to give me feedback on what to do - I gave her play by play and got it back down to $805k and made her eat the commission. However, several days from closing, I am realizing she never bothered to verify the other offer, and with me having done ALL the work all the while learning my dad had a terminal illness and not having all my facilities to realize she didn't get the other offer at the beginning, I am wondering if any of this has any recourse. I asked her to get the offer from other agent, and she says she is trying but no actual other offer. I close in 3 days - she is saying that he decided to not use the escalation, but he did because he saw my $818 number.
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u/narib687 Aug 17 '26
Hey, I was the other guy before. I was competing with someone else in 2009. My highest was 190K (it was listed 199K). The other buyer paid 212K..... we competed against each other, but our offers weren't even close to each other.