The home could have been on the market for a year, and the day you decide to put an offer in on it, all of a sudden there's one or more bids on it.
If you just put in an offer a week earlier, and you would not have not had any competition, but instead now you have to compete with other buyers for that house.
As an agent who gets into these situations with my buyer clients, even I get frustrated. Some agents don't always tell the truth (see this prior post as an example) and I get skeptical too. When I submit an offer on behalf of a buyer-client only to hear from the listing agent that there is one or more offers on the table I have to question it, too.
As a buyer's agent, it is my duty and my job to check out this type of claim as thoroughly as I possibly can, however most of the time, I must take the word of the listing agent.
For the record, I don't like this scenario any more than you would,- it just seems to be Murphy's Law. The best way to avert this is when you find a property that you like, to place an offer on it as soon as you are ready, and not give other buyers the opportunity.
And a note From Judy: If you have a question about buying or selling Real Estate in Fairfield County, and are in need of an Realtor to represent you, I invite you to contact me, and if you have an idea for a topic that you would like to see on The CT Realty Blog, please include it in the "Post a Comment" section link below this post. We appreciate the feedback and look forward to providing you with the best real estate content, advice and service in Fairfield County, Connecticut.