[quote=danthedart]Well thanks for your honesty. Unfortunately, being honest about being dishonest doesn’t really get you anywhere ethically.

In all likelihood I would NOT do the deal.

It may not be illegal for the buyer, but for the agent its a violation of of their agreement with the seller and most likely fraud. Obviously you’d never be able to prove that in court, but that’s what it is.

I am sympathetic to a buyer because I would be tempted to do the deal too, but I am not sympathetic to the agent at all. Agents facilitating these deals are ripping off the people they’re supposedly representing.

No, the difference between you and I is that you would dive into the deal thinking you’re doing nothing wrong. If I did the deal, which I honestly do not believe I would, I would be doing the deal knowing I was doing something unethical.

Isn’t that the real question here? Is this deal ethical or not? It’s not about my personal ethics or your personal ethics. [/quote]
I don’t see how the agent selling a house at listing price (the price the seller agreed to) is unethical? Lets take this scenario and place it in 2004 time frame instead. Would it be unethical for the seller agent to sell the house at asking price knowing full well they probably get a lot more offers at probably higher price if they just wait it out a few months? Is it then also unethical for the seller to agreeing to a price that’s considered a good deal to the retail market?