A real estate agent just cracked—and what he revealed could change how you buy property forever
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A real estate agent is calling out shady tactics that he says are damaging trust in the industry.
From ‘fake offers’ to doctored listings, he’s lifting the lid on what really happens behind the scenes.
Now, buyers are speaking out too—and their stories are eye-opening.
Jordan Bulmer, a sales agent at McGrath in Terrigal on the NSW Central Coast, has spoken out against dishonest practices used by some real estate agents.
He took to social media to criticise the increasingly common ‘fake offer’ tactic—a trick used to pressure buyers into offering more by pretending there’s a competing bid.
Bulmer said he refused to use such underhanded methods, insisting he preferred honest dealings with clients.
‘The minute a person makes an offer then there's suddenly another offer on the table... I don't know why agents do this,’ he said.
He added: ‘If someone comes to me and says, “Has there been an offer on the property?” and there hasn't then I say, “No there hasn't I haven't found the right person,” there doesn't have to be an offer on every property.’
Bulmer said he worked with potential buyers to find a price that ‘everybody’s happy’ with, warning that fake offers only reduced public trust in real estate agents.
Source: TikTok/realestatejordanbulmer
His post prompted a flood of responses from frustrated home buyers who believed they had also been tricked by similar schemes.
‘We had a realtor try that scam, so we said great sell it to them then,’ one commenter wrote.
‘For the next couple of days they kept calling and offering to make the sale and we blocked their number.’
Another shared: ‘I had this happen, I made an offer and was told there was a better offer and kept being “outbid” and that was the first time I got scammed by an agent.
‘Funnily enough, about a week after I realised what was going on and pulled out. Then I got a call asking if I was still interested at my last offer amount. Nope.’
A third buyer said: ‘I put an offer in and the agent said there are two other buyers so I kept upping the offer and they kept pushing till I said I was out.
‘They ring back the next day saying the other buyers have dropped out do you want the property... Yeah nah I'll pass thanks.’
Bulmer shared there was ‘no need’ for deceptive strategies, questioning why any agent would risk their reputation with buyers.
‘I don't understand why some agents do some of the things that frustrate the living daylights out of people. I just don't get it,’ he said.
‘I find that just such a silly thing to do, but it seems to happen so much.’
He believed it was better to build trust with clients through transparency rather than tricks.
Auctioneer and fellow agent Tom Panos echoed Bulmer’s sentiments, saying deceptive practices only further damaged the industry’s image.
He pointed out other tactics that agents sometimes used—such as ‘catfish homes’, where edited photos made a property look far better online than it did in person.
‘A real estate agent has an ethical responsibility to get the best price for the vendor (seller) who is their client and pays them. So it really is buyer beware,’ he said.
Another method he described involved door-knocking homes near an auction property to inflate apparent interest by inviting neighbours to attend.
Panos also warned that some agents manipulated auction optics by handing out bidder cards with high numbers, even if there were only a few actual bidders.
‘So instead of one, two, three they might say 10, 11, 12,’ he explained.
He urged buyers to do proper research before making offers, using tools like Corelogic and building inspections to safeguard their investments.
‘People often more research planning a holiday or buying a car than they do buying a property,’ Panos said.
If this story has you second-guessing the last time you made an offer on a property, you're not alone.
Deceptive tactics in the real estate world aren’t just limited to fake bids—some agents are using subtler tricks that can be just as misleading.
One recently uncovered method in Sydney shows just how calculated these strategies can get.
Read more: Revealed: The Deceptive Trick Sydney Real Estate Agents Don't Want You to Know About!
When you're spending hundreds of thousands—or even millions—shouldn't you know exactly what you're walking into?
From ‘fake offers’ to doctored listings, he’s lifting the lid on what really happens behind the scenes.
Now, buyers are speaking out too—and their stories are eye-opening.
Jordan Bulmer, a sales agent at McGrath in Terrigal on the NSW Central Coast, has spoken out against dishonest practices used by some real estate agents.
He took to social media to criticise the increasingly common ‘fake offer’ tactic—a trick used to pressure buyers into offering more by pretending there’s a competing bid.
Bulmer said he refused to use such underhanded methods, insisting he preferred honest dealings with clients.
Agent calls out industry’s ‘fake offer’ tactic. Image source: Instagram/jordanbulmer
‘The minute a person makes an offer then there's suddenly another offer on the table... I don't know why agents do this,’ he said.
He added: ‘If someone comes to me and says, “Has there been an offer on the property?” and there hasn't then I say, “No there hasn't I haven't found the right person,” there doesn't have to be an offer on every property.’
Bulmer said he worked with potential buyers to find a price that ‘everybody’s happy’ with, warning that fake offers only reduced public trust in real estate agents.
Source: TikTok/realestatejordanbulmer
His post prompted a flood of responses from frustrated home buyers who believed they had also been tricked by similar schemes.
‘We had a realtor try that scam, so we said great sell it to them then,’ one commenter wrote.
‘For the next couple of days they kept calling and offering to make the sale and we blocked their number.’
Another shared: ‘I had this happen, I made an offer and was told there was a better offer and kept being “outbid” and that was the first time I got scammed by an agent.
‘Funnily enough, about a week after I realised what was going on and pulled out. Then I got a call asking if I was still interested at my last offer amount. Nope.’
A third buyer said: ‘I put an offer in and the agent said there are two other buyers so I kept upping the offer and they kept pushing till I said I was out.
‘They ring back the next day saying the other buyers have dropped out do you want the property... Yeah nah I'll pass thanks.’
Bulmer shared there was ‘no need’ for deceptive strategies, questioning why any agent would risk their reputation with buyers.
‘I don't understand why some agents do some of the things that frustrate the living daylights out of people. I just don't get it,’ he said.
‘I find that just such a silly thing to do, but it seems to happen so much.’
He believed it was better to build trust with clients through transparency rather than tricks.
Auctioneer and fellow agent Tom Panos echoed Bulmer’s sentiments, saying deceptive practices only further damaged the industry’s image.
He pointed out other tactics that agents sometimes used—such as ‘catfish homes’, where edited photos made a property look far better online than it did in person.
‘A real estate agent has an ethical responsibility to get the best price for the vendor (seller) who is their client and pays them. So it really is buyer beware,’ he said.
Another method he described involved door-knocking homes near an auction property to inflate apparent interest by inviting neighbours to attend.
Panos also warned that some agents manipulated auction optics by handing out bidder cards with high numbers, even if there were only a few actual bidders.
‘So instead of one, two, three they might say 10, 11, 12,’ he explained.
He urged buyers to do proper research before making offers, using tools like Corelogic and building inspections to safeguard their investments.
‘People often more research planning a holiday or buying a car than they do buying a property,’ Panos said.
If this story has you second-guessing the last time you made an offer on a property, you're not alone.
Deceptive tactics in the real estate world aren’t just limited to fake bids—some agents are using subtler tricks that can be just as misleading.
One recently uncovered method in Sydney shows just how calculated these strategies can get.
Read more: Revealed: The Deceptive Trick Sydney Real Estate Agents Don't Want You to Know About!
When you're spending hundreds of thousands—or even millions—shouldn't you know exactly what you're walking into?
