Stupid comes in all walks of life.  

Listing agent calls buyer's agent -- Thank you for your offer.  The seller has accepted another offer.  Good luck finding your client a property.  

End of conversation.  

omg... i put my fingers into my ears...to block them from hearing and hum mmmmmmmmmmm loudly

Wow! That's a tough one to "let it slide". No proof she said it though and hard to prove. I think my buyer would be pissed and I'd be obligated to run it up the chain of command until I hit a solution or was shut down. That too blatent a violation of Fair Housing & NAR Ethics to ignore.

Yikes. Fair Housing smack in the face. Stupid. I would pursue it by advising the buyer they could file a complaint

Well I believe the decision is your seller's to make.  But when I inform someone their offer wasn't accepted, that is where my statement ends.  I recently had one where the higher offer wasn't accepted, but it was of course the terms (cash vs. loan and timing of closing) that swayed my sellers, but even that was not part of my conversation with the other agent, simply that another offer had been accepted.

Woah...seriously an agent would say that?  I think your buyer has a legitimate claim against the seller, the agent and the broker.  I hope that agent is aware that the line was crossed.  Do the right thing.

I had a similar situation with clients once.  Sitting down at the table going over offers.  Seller did not want to accept the highest and best offer. The more I dug ... the deeper I found myself in the kind of crap I never want to be in.  I advised of Federal laws. I further advised that they would need to find a new listing agent. We had 15 offers ... some great offers ... and I would not be going back on the market so they could hand-pick the new owner.  I cannot believe this kind of crap is still out there!

If the milk has spilled...what can you do? Lap it up? Step over it? Move-on?

What I do is to find my customer another home. I don't need that much detail about the why just give me a yes or a no and I'm good.

Boy, that was really dumb on her part. Seller cannot discriminate that's what I say. Now what to do though?

you're on to the next showing..... it's America....the seller can take whatever he/she wants....

Since it is so blatantly a violation of the law (and NAR Code of Ethics if it applies to this agent), I would inform them and hopefully get them to see the risk and address their mistake without intervention from higher up.

If they snap out of it and accept your offer, there is a new dilemma. Do you say no harm no foul and rest easy with your success and re-education of the listing agent? Or do you still have an ethical obligation to pursue this in some way (contacting listing agent's broker, local REALTOR board, state real estate commission, etc.). Obviously you have an investment in the overall health of the real estate community. So very tough on multiple levels. 

Bookmarking this to keep in the stash of bad things happening to good people to encourage my real estate friends when they meet misfortune. 

WOW! Like Thomas said, that is a pretty blatant violation of the fair housing laws, but it is also hard to prove that the statement was made. I just read the answer given by Kenneth J. Jones and he really nailed it!

I would mentione fair housing laws to the agent so she will not make the same mistake.

Nothing much you can do... a seller can accept any offer they want for any reason they want. It's their home and their decision. There is no law that says a seller has to take the highest offer in terms of price. Was your client discriminated against per fair housing laws? 

That being said, I wonder about the smarts of the agent who made that call--why not simply say the seller reviewed all offers and made her decision.

I am inclined to advise buyer to file a complaint if they like however I am not sure the battle is worth the effort.

  That Listing Agent should have walked away from that transaction, cancelled any agreement, and instructed that Seller to see an Attorney about continuing the transaction.  That Listing Agent should seek their own legal counsel, in case it does get reported.

   Does the Buyer's Agent who got the rejection and the illegal reason for it report this to their Grievance Committee, to a government Fair Housing Agency, or what?

     Tough call...

I agree with Michael Jacobs --- oh and Forrest Gump- "Stupid is as stupid does".

LOL - you can't fix stupid ;) Plain and simple

Wow, that was not a very smart listing Agent.  I believe the Home Owner can take any offer they choose, but this one could be on the edge of discrimination?

Sounds like a very foolish listing agent to tell you this.

Suggest to the agent the implications of  Fair Housing, then move onto the next project.

I would follow that up in an email, i.e., writing.  Reiterate exactly what the listing agent said.  I would cc' that to myself and the client and await response.  If the listing agent doesn't respond with "Oh, sorry, that wasn't what I said," or something along those lines, then I would seriously think about filing a housing discrimination complaint against the listing agent, the brokerage and the seller --since they remained silent  The offer from the buyer was discriminated against because of a preference of a "single woman," that's discrimination.  What was the familiar status of the rejected offer?  That would be interesting to know.  They can't advertise, "Single women only."  The listing agent did her client a disserve, and breached their fiduciary duty of "confidientiality" . . . they spilled the beans on WHY. And the reason the seller opted for a lesser net is due to a discriminatory reason.  

Look for another home.

That is pure stupidity.  I've been on the receiving side of that before too.  "They wanted to sell to a family instead of a corporation that'll just make money off of it."

Can't prove it and not worth being "that guy".

Climb to the highest hill and shout to the top of your lungs N E X T!!!! Always feels soooooo good!!

I had to laugh at Michael Jacobs comment because he hit that nail squarely and quickly. There is no reason on earth for a listing agent to explain to a buyer's agent why the offer was not accepted. They can cry, weep, plead, beg, offer money, be belligerent, I don't give a crap; it's none of their business why the seller did not accept their buyer's offer. Period. End of Story. Game over.

We have a Vietnam vet who offered the lowest and got the house for the same reason-Airborn 101 purple heart.

In my case, I pledged to the listing agent we will deliver the promise. A single Google female wants a home. Agent came back stating your offer is in the middle. I had you checked out you are super. If we counter you will be out.  If you pay $5K more I will let you have the home. The buyer got it below the market on account of mostly my effort. Homestead High School near Apple spaceship 2.

Ditto under Kenneth J. Jones and Michael Jacobs 

What was the purpose or benefit of that call.

Sometimes agents think they are being helpful with information and they are not.  We all know there is more to an offer than price,  IE COE, asking for frig, washer & dryer (in Az these are personal property but often included in the negotiations) or even the amount of earnest money. I would let the buyer decide if they want to pursue this.  Hard to prove a phone conversation.  Go find your buyer a better house.

Another case of over-sharing without oversight. Loose lips sink ships and ones reputation as a competent agent. 

Good afternoon Mimi Foster,

I agree with Michael Jacobs, a simple thank you for the offer should have been sufficient.

Those decisions are up to the seller. Congratulations to the single lady.

Mimi Foster - on one hand, I can say, seller has a right to choose the buyer.

On other hand, reason for choosing that buyer is NOT right. Ethical violation perhaps.

Now everything is not right, just because listing agent disclosed so much about your offer...

Wow!  This sounds like a lawsuit waiting to happen!

Whoa! Whoa!Whoa!  Nothing else to say on that one.....good grief.

OK, now here is a can of worms that could be a real doozy

"The seller has decided to accept a different offer.  Thank you for your offer, we'll let you know if anything changes."

My conversation with my seller, who says "I'd rather have a single woman be the buyer"... I'd respond with "We can't make a decision based on a protected class..."

I would agree with Barbara Todaro.  It IS still the seller's home.  In that last 3 months I have had several listings with 10+ offers on each.  I put the info in the spread sheet and sat down PERSONALLY ONE TO ONE with the sellers.  In all three cases, the seller's choice surprised me.  But, it is their home and they can do what they want to.  Now, would I spout something like that agent did NO-pretty crazy to do so.   (None of my seller's decisions involved any fair housing discrimination)  One of the seller's rejected an offer because she was leaving the house when the agent and the buyer showed up.  The agent was rude and condesending.  It's the seller's decision.

The seller can accept whichever offer they want. If seller preferred single ladies offer, not much buyer can do. Now if it was reversed, and seller said they rejected your offer and did something stupid like stated the reason they rejected it ( your clients offfer was rejected because seller didn't want to sell to a foreign family with kids ) then fair housing should be notified.

Mimi,

My very wise friend Michael Jacobs  has given you the answer!  A

Not much you can do other than move on.

Yikes!  What a comment - though not in writing, but verbal.  Kind of a 'he said she said' situation, and I don't see how one could prove it, so I don't see how one could back it up, if they reported it.  Nasty to let that slip through.  Discrimination, Fair Housing Act Violation, and just plain rude Mimi Foster.  

Hopefully someone says something so that they may be trained correctly.

I have to agree with Michael Jacobs! 

How would the buyer even know?  All I would have said was Seller has accepted another offer.  The terms are not disclosed until the MLS has been updated. 

I'm sorry, can you put that in writing, so I can pass that on to my client.  If they do it, your can inform your client of the violation and let them pursue it.  I would also inform the agent, in reply to their issue, of the violation. 

Why in the world would you "out" your seller like that? That is confidential information between the seller and the listing agent. I can see a buyer of mine jump on that and sue the seller with the listing agent being brought into the suit! We don't owe the failed offers' agents any explanation.

Hi Mimi,

Say thank you and move on or offer a back up offer if your client really wants the house. There is not much you can do.

Ouch....that is a worm can I wouldn't welcome.

The agent was stupid to say that

I have had a seller to choose an offer that was VA financing and not the highest and best.  She said that when she and her husband purchased, they were just out of the military just at the buyers were.  He had passed and in honor of him, she wanted the house to be purchased as they did.  One of the agents who submitted a higher and better offer was upset, but I reminded him that it was not with my decision.  She chose what worked for her.

You can argue with logic, but you can't argue with emotion. And this statement from the listing agent would be hard to prove unless the seller made it in writing.

A little too much transparency here? 

I would thank the other agent for taking time to explain the reasoning of the seller.  They didn't need to share this but seem to have respected the other agent and wanted to help them have a reason to share with their client.

Seller's property, seller's choice. Next!

Agent should have just stated that your offer was not accepted. Didn't need to add the other.  File a complaint or move on.. Did you share the reason with your buyer?  They may want to file a complaint.

No explanation is needed. It doesn't change a thing if your offer is the loser.