Buying a home can be a really stressful time.

From trying to actually find your perfect home, to dealing with estate agents and solicitors, it can feel like you might never actually be sure what is going to happen until it does.

Things can fall through at the last moment, unexpected costs can arise, removals might break your stuff.

But once you’re in your dream home, it all feels worth it.

For the guy in this story, though, actually moving into that dream home suddenly became a remote possibility.

Read on to find out why.

Tying to inflate your commission? How about ‘no’?

About 22 years ago I was buying an old farmhouse and land that had been on the market for two years.

I liked what I saw, knew there was going to be a ton of work to make it habitable, but I was willing to put the time and money into it.

I contacted their agent, and everything was going swimmingly.

But everything was about to change.

48 hours from exchanging contracts and what do you know? A new buyer has offered £30k over my offer.

But the sellers like me, so if I can go £5k above that the agent is sure I will be able to get the house.

Now my parents were many things, but they did not bring me up to be a fool.

I was well aware that I was being played, and that he was trying to inflate his commission.

Let’s see how he responded to that.

I simply told the estate agent to advise the sellers to take the increased bid and to make it easier, I was withdrawing my offer immediately.

I was willing to take the financial loss of all the surveys, etc., because I don’t like being screwed over by anyone.

I wish I was a fly on the wall to see how that conversation went…

But the agent, it turned out, wasn’t entirely truthful – with anyone involved.

By chance, I saw the sellers in town about three months later and they said that they hoped that I was recovering from my illness that had forced me to withdraw from the sale.

Yes, that was genuinely the story the Estate Agent had come up with.

Now, I could have nodded and smiled, but I decided to tell them the truth instead.

I explained that their estate agent had tried to squeeze me for an additional £35k, and that because of his actions, the property was still for sale.

And it all worked out for the best in the end.

Long story short, we had a chat and they were still willing to sell to me – and since I had all the paperwork, surveys, etc. ready to go, they could pull the property from the market and we could just get solicitors to do their bit and conduct it as a private sale.

So that’s what we did. I got my house, the sellers got a fair price, and the agent didn’t get a penny.

Was it petty? Yes.

Was it worth it? Absolutely.

It’s crazy that instead of getting the sale, the agent tried – and failed – to up the price instead.

Sure, maybe that would fly on a property that was in demand.

But this farmhouse had been on the market for two years already!

His attempt to fleece the buyer makes no business sense whatsoever.

Let’s see what the Reddit community made of this.

This person commended the buyer and the sellers on how they handled things.

But others recommended they take this further.

Meanwhile, this Redditor had had a similar experience.

It’s sad that those we trust to sell our homes can actually ruin the sales too – all because of their own greed.

Hopefully this estate agent learned a lesson.

By trying to increase his commission, he ended up with nothing at all.

If you liked that post, check this one about a guy who got revenge on his condo by making his own Christmas light rules.