Offer on House

J.,

I believe you would have heard right away if it was an offer on your house. And I don't think it's rude or unprofessional if they were signing papers for anthother house in your driveway. If you had been in the house at the time, that would have been rude. Also, I agree that you should call their realtor and ask for feedback. If they did choose the other house they should be able to tell you what they liked better about it. Sometimes it is just a personal choice but maybe it is something simple that you can correct for the next prospecitve buyer. Good luck! We sold our house by owner about 3 years ago and it was the most horrible experience. Just a few words of advice. The seller's market is horrible right now. When we were selling our home it was just beginning to dive. We priced our house close to what some comparables were priced at. We received some offers that were about 20,000 under our asking price but would have given us a profit. We did not accept the offers and 9 months later (1/2 month before out son was born and six months into making two mortage payments) we ended up dumping it for 20,000 under those first offers.

I just went through the whole thing with buying a house. The papers they were signing, says that this realtor showed this house to them, and if in fact they purchase the home that realtor is the one that will receive the profit percentage on the home. So that you can not go through another realtor on the same home. I had a few realtors show us homes and we had to sign one with each realtor on each address. If they had indeed given a offer you would have heard right away. When we put a bid in (the first bid), on our home, I did it at 9 am in the morning. By 9pm, we had agreed on a final bid. It happen that fast. Good Luck to you

My mother is a realtor and I work as her assistant. I can tell you that an offer usually comes in rather quickly. I take it you aren't working with a realtor? If you aren't call the realtor yourself and just ask for feedback on the showing. I wouldn't come right out and mention your neighbor overheard anything, but just ask how it went. If they were in fact signing papers, more than likely it was on your home and, yes, you should have received something today. The couple may be still undecided though, or there could be issues with financing, you never know, so you will have to call the agent and ask.

Good luck with the home sale. I used to be a Realtor, so here's my take on what happened out on your driveway:

Basically anything could have happened. Not much is sacred, and some people are rude. Discretion in a nice office is best, but you never know. They are probably close to making a decision about somebody's home. It would seem they are clearly motivated to buy something, somewhere. Even if it's your home, they might, (and should), be methodical, careful and not rushed. It might take a day or 2 to fill out a purchase contract and add in all the addendums and special considerations. They could be 1st time buyers just as you are 1st time sellers. It's scary to spend all that money! Even for a good thing! Think about how you shop...even for a pair of shoes. Can you just go in a store, find and buy what fits the bill right away? Do you go back and look again one more time? Do you look elsewhere and compare prices? Magnify that by 100-200 thousand dollars or more and you have what the home buyer / shopper is processing.
Are you guys listed with an agent or are you FSBO? FSBO's sometimes scare off buyers b/c agencies discourage it. Hang in there and stay open to all possibilities! Good luck! P.

OK...PS: After reading other's responses...I agree, they could have only been just signing agency papers, which mean that that one particular agent showed them that one particular home. If it was at the end of their showing session, they may have concluded everything on your driveway before parting ways. That's not so bad. An offer...The professional way is to say: "Let's go back to the office and do the paper work." I think it's fair to call the showing agent and ask for feedback. Do not mention your neighbor(s). If you have a listing agent...call that person and ask them to get the feedback. It's part of their services charged through your listing commission fee. P.

J.,

That seems pretty unprofessional of the real estate agent either way-writing an offer in your driveway on the car. Are you sure it was an offer? You should have gotten a call ASAP if you got an offer! The agent should have called you before s/he left the block!

Your neighbor may have misunderstood. And you have every right to call the agent and just ask! Don't be embarrassed.