Most unprofessional experience trying to purchase my first home in TV.
 

So, I found a home on the VLS made an offer based upon agent video walk through. Seller stated original roof on 2008 home willing to offer 10k toward replacement. I offered 5k less than price. My VLS agent calls me and says they are only going to give rebate for roof with a full price offer. I submitted a full price offer with roof being inspected within three days as contingency to make sure the home was insurable. The agent calls me and says there is another offer both cash offers btw but they were going to counter my offer with removing the contingency. I disclosed to the agent that I couldn't buy a home that I may not be able to insure she stated that because it is a cash offer and that I could. I said well I cannot have a home in another state that may not be insurable. She said so you are willing to lose this deal? I said I guess I wouldn't have a choice but have them counter and I will respond. Agent two hours later calls back and says they took the other offer. The seller never responded to my offer at full list price or countered. I have purchased ten homes in my life and I know there are 1799 more to choose from on the market but...wow. Not feeling very happy with TV listing service or agents at the moment.. Have a great evening one and all!

Your Broker/Agent handled the transaction, EXACTLY how it should have been handled.

A Seller has no obligation to "counter" an offer. Your Offer contained a contingency that was unacceptable to the Seller, so they accepted another Offer that was acceptable to them.

Legally and ethically, your Broker/Agent did everything right and it sounds like the Seller's Broker did, too. Just because you don't like the results or someone else was more daring than you, doesn't make it wrong.

If you really wanted the home, you could have made an Offer without any contingencies and still have been prepared to increase it, if the Seller had another comparable Offer.

I agree. Time to move on to another property.

1st never make an offer without the stipulation of response by the seller in writing. I have actually had an experience with a realtor of an offer rejected and later found the offer was never presented to the seller. This is the oldest trick in the book. If the listing is new see what the market will bring.

2nd Do us a favor and publish the realtor you dealt with.

OP was not dealing with a Realtor. It was a VHS agent.

A Seller has no obligation to respond or counter any offer.

A Broker has an obligation under Florida Law, to present any offer to a Seller, unless otherwise advised in writing.

There is no such thing as a "realtor". It is "REALTOR®" (a Registered Trademark), who are legally & ethically bound to present any offer to a Seller and in 40 years in and around the real estate industry, I've yet to see a Broker not present an Offer to Purchase, to the Seller or their Broker.

If it was a VLS Agent, the Broker they are working under, is still required by Florida Law, to present the Offer. When selling pre-owned homes in Florida, VLS is bound by the exact same laws as an MLS Broker. It's only when selling the Developers own inventory, they have some discretion as to how they handle the sales process.

Personally would never bid on a house sight unseen. Also subject to inspection.

Too many dollars involved to buy a pig in a poke.

I wonder if the successful buyer knows that insuring a house due to the roof could be an issue.

well the good news is, you have hundreds of houses to pick from, good hunting.

What is the documentation under Florida law (which I am not familiar with) that gives proof the offer was presented ? Must be something in writing like I suggested.

This whole roof/insurance thing, is mostly a red herring.

Most insurance companies will insure a home, regardless of roof condition.

The problem is, people with 10-15 year old roofs, thinking they can get a brand new roof, if their 15 year old roof is damaged. That's just not reasonable. If a 15 year roof is damaged, your insurance should only be paying you 40%-50% of the value of the roof.

https://floridapace.gov/blog/home-in...f-requirements

Especially when buying pre-owned. The only big advantage of buying pre-owned is that you can see whether the neighbors have potential red flags and if they tend to maintain their homes and landscaping properly.

I had an acquaintance that bought sight un-seen in Southwest Florida and he was angry when the RE agent didn't mention that the home next door had violent hoarders living there with multiple broken down vehicles/boats on their property.

First priority of many agents is to sell the house, the buyer if not happy can always buy another one

Craig, you do not put your heart and soul on the first home you put an offer on. Simply make offer based on a full home inspection and deduct from there based on legitimate findings. As you know and have read on this forum there is plenty of inventory here to move on. You will not compete with cash offers and insulting them further with $5K under. If those cash offers people make stupid errors that is on them since you have done your homework. Do you have a VLS agent to work for you and not just the sellers? It’s summer now so consider renting for a few months while shopping here for a home since the rent is low. You will be better off and make the best on the ground decisions without stressing over the first home offer from afar while enjoying the dream.