I cannot tell you how many times I've heard a buyer getting beat out on a offer they submitted on a bank owned property, only to find out after the sale, the accepted offer was marginally lower than their offer on the same property. My guess is Real Estate Fraud. Recent accounting states that nearly 1 in 55 transactions involve fraud committed by Selling and / or listing agents. In area's heavily hit by foreclosures, such as my state, Arizona, the number is even higher... Here is how it goes... You submit an offer on a property, along with 10 other people. The listing agent receives all the offers. She is contractually obligated to submit all offers to her seller, however of the 10 offers, she only submit say 3 or 4, and the highest and best happens to be her investor friend. And that's the offer that is ultimately accepted. The buyer then re lists the property (Usually with the same RE Agent) after minimal improvements for a much higher price. The agent get's to sell the same property twice and the buyer makes a huge profit in a very short time... lenders and the government are trying to put in fail safes to prohibit this activity, however with the thousands of homes sold every week in America, it's difficult to stop. Your best bet as a potential buyer... Ask the sellers agent for a signed receipt from the seller acknowledging they actually got the offer. Keep in mind, that this too can be forged, but none the less, it's a paper trail and another piece of proof if the law ever get's involved. WilliamAcres.com