Phantom Offers, Nibbles, and a Good Cop on the Other Line
Your first-time buyers are approved to $340,000 with 5% down and have $9,000 in reserves. They are under contract at $332,000 with a 10-day inspection period; the inspection found a failed sewer line estimated at $11,500 and a 19-year-old roof. The listing agent, who represents the seller, tells you: (a) "There's another offer coming in tonight, so you should decide fast"; (b) "The seller will not do a dollar more than $3,000 in credits"; (c) after you agree on $6,000 in credits, "Oh, and my seller is taking the washer/dryer - that was always understood"; and (d) her managing broker calls you separately and says, "Between us, she's new and the seller is unreasonable - I can get it done." Your buyers ask whether they should waive the appraisal contingency to make their position "stronger."
1. Name and classify each tactic, and assess which are legitimate.
Read the worked answer
(a) "Another offer tonight" - unverified competing-offer pressure. Perfectly legal to have a competing offer; not legitimate to fabricate one. You are already under contract, so a "new offer" can at most become a backup - which tells you the pressure is softer than it sounds.
(b) "Not a dollar more than $3,000" - anchoring combined with implied limited authority. It is a legitimate bargaining position, and a signal that the credit number is negotiable upward if you give them something (speed, certainty, release of the washer/dryer fight).
(c) Washer/dryer after the credit agreement - a classic nibble: a small, late ask made after you have psychologically closed, betting you will swallow it to protect the deal.
(d) The managing broker's "between us" call - good cop/bad cop, plus a mild end-run around the agent of record. Not unethical on its face, but it invites you to negotiate with two people and to trust a side channel over the record.
Note the pattern: the pressure is concentrated in timing and small add-ons, not in the substantive price. That tells you where your counterweight belongs.
2. Give your counter-tactics and the exact language you would use.
Read the worked answer
(a) Phantom offer: "Thanks for the heads-up. If a backup offer comes in, send me the terms in writing with an expiration and I'll respond promptly. We're prepared to move on our number today - we just won't bid against a rumor." Then stop talking. Ask for the offer in writing; legitimate agents produce it or the pressure evaporates.
(b) The $3,000 ceiling: separate the issues. "Let's split this: if the seller funds $6,000 in credits, my buyers close in 14 days instead of 21 and waive the roof as a repair item. If the ceiling is really $3,000, then we're renegotiating price instead." Tie the concession to something they want.
(c) The nibble: price it or refuse it. "The contract we agreed to included the appliances. If they come out, the credit goes to $6,800 - I'll send the amended page." Never absorb an unpriced nibble; that behavior repeats at every remaining step.
(d) Good cop/bad cop: "I appreciate the call. To keep things clean, I'll route everything through the agent of record in writing." Confirm every term in a single email thread; nothing said on the phone exists until it is in the counteroffer.
Overall rule: no deadline you did not agree to, no verbal concession you did not confirm in writing, and know your clients' walk-away number before the next call.
3. Should the buyers waive the appraisal contingency? Analyze with numbers.
Read the worked answer
Contracts are not won by terms the buyer cannot perform. Run the arithmetic first.
- Purchase price $332,000; 5% down = $16,600; reserves $9,000.
- Inspection has already surfaced $11,500 in sewer work and an aging roof - even a partial credit leaves them thin.
- If the appraisal comes in at $320,000, the gap is $12,000 in cash at closing. If it comes in at $315,000, the gap is $17,000. Their entire reserve is $9,000.
Conclusion: waiving the appraisal contingency would not strengthen their offer; it would convert a strong offer into one that may fail at the closing table, costing the seller exactly what they care about - time.
Better structure: keep the appraisal contingency but add a written gap commitment of $5,000 - defensible against reserves, and it signals seriousness without betting the closing. Pair it with a shortened financing window and a lender letter. If the seller wants more certainty, offer a slightly higher earnest-money deposit rather than a waiver.
Tell the buyers plainly: the real risk here is not losing the house, it is owning a house with a failed sewer line and no cash left to fix it.