Buying land story - Part2

I’ve broken this story up into a few parts as it’s a bit loooong. You can read part1 here

April 2013 I had found another block that I liked. 

The land had been available for some time, it was in an older area which I guess could put some buyers off but there was to be 10 new houses built along this street, so I knew in time It would be a good move. There was also a reserve at the rear with gumtrees which I believe is a much better sight that your neighbours back fence. The blocks here were also much larger for the asking price, but still a little over my budget. However as I had been following the market for so long I knew that there was a time the previous year when they briefly dropped the prices on these specific blocks, this gave me hope that they may in fact accept a slightly lower offer. 

I rang the agent to discuss things further, a few days later we met at the block. Everything was great, he went through the services and encumbrances and it all felt right. Without me saying anything about price he told me that the vendor might drop a little but not much. The following week I rang the agent and explained that I wanted to make an offer, he was happy for me to come down the next day during my lunch break. So I’m all excited but also a bundle of nerves of what I was about to do. I walked into the offices where he greeted me at the door with a big grin, we sat down at his desk and he dumped the contract in front of me, he started going through it, it all made sense, then he tells me the contract price... Hang on… I thought I was coming down to make an offer? I tell him I want to submit an offer below the asking price. He flat out said NO, not possible, it’s a fixed price contract, I ask again, almost begging for him to at least show my offer to the vendor. He once again says no, and then he closes the paper file, pushed it towards me and said 'sorry for wasting your time’. I was shocked at the way he spoke, I grabbed the file and walked out to my car, all I wanted was the chance to make an offer, sure they might have rejected it but shouldn’t I at least have that opportunity? Nowhere in any of the advertising did it say these blocks were a non-negotiable fixed price. 

I went home in despair to tell mum and dad what had happened, they were equally as shocked at the way the agent spoke to me. Dad wanted to ring him up right there and give him a piece for the way I was treated. I told Dad that would only make things worse and if the land was a set price I would just have to accept it. However it all smelt of foul play, it just felt like the agent was lying. Why did he say on our first meeting that they would drop a little, if in fact it was a set contract price all along? It made no sense; there were too many holes in the agent’s story. 

Update, you can read part 3 here