r/TorontoRealEstate

I'm looking to get some advice. I was looking to buy this home close to where I live. So we went for showing and we put an offer few hours later. Then when my agent tried to follow up next morning he told us seller is not in the country. But when we went for showing a day earlier, we could smell food. And it was owner's family pictures in the house everywhere. So I don't think it was rented out, and listing said it was occupied by owners. Anyways, in the evening time he sent a text to my agent that our offer was little lower and other buyers offer was firm so seller went with other buyer. Yesterday we found out that the other buyer was his own client, and we got outbid by $4k. If he communicated with us, and given us opportunity we could have put in a higher firm offer. I think it was unfair to us potential buyers and to the sellers since they could have gotten a higher value for their house.

• Offer Expiration Deliberately Delayed: Seller's realtor waited until our offer expired without timely communication.

• Lack of Communication: He only texted my agent after our offer expired, stating that our offer was slightly lower than another buyer's offer.

• Conflict of Interest: We discovered that the other buyer was his client, which means he stood to earn a commission from both ends of the transaction.

• No Opportunity to Counter: We were not given the opportunity to increase our offer, which we were willing to do.

• No Direct Contact: Seller's realtor did not bother to call my agent to discuss our offer or any potential adjustments.

• Potential Dishonesty and Misleading Information: The claim about the seller being out of the country seems suspect and could have been a tactic to delay our offer consideration.

Thanks for any advice.