Rustico your point is absolutely correct. However there is a point of ethics that cannot be dismissed. In the case that Asianautica brought up it seems peculiar that an agent would be used to sell a home to a family member. As sdr brought up I don’t see how a lender would authorize a short sale in that fashion. Further exploring, the same agency was used indicating they will get both sides of the transaction. Finally for the listing agent to lock into that offer after the home was on the market for a few days, and thus decline taking other offers is absolutely providing poor representation. Thus the seller will not get top dollar nor will the bank. This is effectively not providing a top notch fiduciary obligation to the seller and bank.

The other case that JC mentioned is sad not because someone else came along. As you mentioned those are the breaks with short sales, however the stringing along by the listing agent is what JC is most upset by. My read is that the listing agent had the other offer for awhile and used JC as a backup in case her offer crashed and burned. Just my guess but again all that JC was really asking for was not to be strung along.

Your point is VERY correct though… Don’t get attached to those short sales until you received the lien release. Agreed also about your points that handpicking may/is going on with REOs as well.