Maddie and Ante's real estate agent made them jump through a series of bizarre hoops before they could put down an offer on their dream home - and you won't believe what he did in the end

The couple have been saving and sacrificing for years Were made to write a personal letter about their futureREAD MORE: The one mistake Aussies are making when buying a house 

A couple have been left outraged after a real estate agent made them jump through a series of bizarre hoops to put down an offer on a house – before brutally turning them down.

Sydney woman Maddie Langshaw, 25, and her fiancé Ante Jungbluth Miocic, 30, have been looking to buy a home on the NSW Central Coast for months.

They found the perfect property online but were unable to visit it because they both work long hours and weekend shifts in the marketing industry.

Ms Langshaw asked her parents to inspect it, and they came back with glowing reviews and suggested it would be the perfect buy for their daughter.

But the real estate agent refused to sell to the couple until they met a series of demands that included having them drive an hour to inspect the property themselves.

He then had the gall to ask them to write a ‘love letter’ about the house to the daughter of the late homeowner explaining how perfect it was and their future plans as a couple.

Maddie Langshaw, 25, and her fiancé Ante Jungbluth Miocic, 30, who live in Sydney have been looking for property on NSW ‘s Central Coast for months

The couple made an offer – before it was turned down – prompting a mixed reaction of anger and shock and leaving them with the feeling they had been ‘played’.

Ms Langshaw has been saving up for a house since she was 14 but says she is now losing hope of ever owning a property.

‘I’ve been pretty defeated since then. It’s becoming really exhausting,’ she told Daily Mail Australia.

The couple said they were on the phone to Ms Langshaw’s parents throughout the inspection.

‘They said it was good structurally, we can do a lot with it and it was below budget,’ Ms Langshaw said.

The couple texted the real estate agent with their offer the same day before he called them back.

He said the house had belonged to a man who had died and his daughter was the seller.

‘He said she wouldn’t sell to us unless we saw the house face to face,’ Ms Langshaw said.

‘We fell for it because we knew the woman would have a personal connection if it was her father’s house.’

Maddie had been saving for a house deposit since she started working at 14, after seeing both her parents struggle to purchase homes later in life

The couple were in the middle of grocery shopping but immediately jumped into their car and drove an hour north after the real estate agent said he had a dinner to go to and couldn’t meet them any later.

‘Maybe I’m naïve because I thought he was a genuine guy,’ Ms Langshaw said.

‘He said he was close to the owner, had sold previous properties for him and had a personal connection.’

Ms Langshaw, found herself tearing up at the stories the agent told as they ‘really tugged on my heartstrings’ and reminded her of losing her grandfather at 19.

‘I was invested at that point,’ she said.

Ms Langshaw said the real estate agent spoke to the couple like they already had the house, telling them their offer was the top one.

‘He said, “Guys, you could cut down this tree. You could extend there”,’ she said.

‘As we left he told us our offer was great. But told us to write a letter to the owner about what our vision for the property is, about our future and about us.

‘He said the seller wants to know. We thought it was weird, but it was her dad’s house and we really wanted it.’

The real estate agent insisted they inspect the property so they were connected to it, made them write a personal letter about what their plans for the house was, their future plans and who they are. He also told them their offer was at the ‘top mark’, but then told them to offer more

The couple spent an hour on the letter and said it was so personal they don’t want to make the contents public.

The would-be homebuyers submitted the letter with their offer – and then the real estate agent went silent.

The couple said they didn’t receive an acknowledgement email and decided to call the real estate agent first thing on Monday – but he didn’t pick up the phone.

‘He eventually called and said, “I thought you guys would send a higher offer after seeing it on Saturday”,’ Ms Langshaw said.

The agent then gave them an amount and said to make an offer ‘north’ of it prompting the couple to add an extra $5,000 to their offer.

Ms Langshaw and Mr Miocic were stunned after receiving a call informing them the house had been sold to another buyer – who had offered $5,000 more.

‘We would have offered more but he didn’t tell us or give us the opportunity,’ Ms Langshaw said.

The news was a blow to the couple who are already battling high rent payments with the cost of their one bedroom apartment being raised by $100 next week.

‘We can’t even get into the market. We have a deposit, we have approval but we’re being messed around,’ Ms Langshaw said.

She said she had been saving up since a teenager and encouraged her partner to do the same after they met a few years ago.

‘I come from a single-parent household. I saw both my parents struggle to buy a house when they were in their late-30s and 40s,’ Ms Langshaw said.

‘I wanted to set myself up.’

Originally from the Central Coast, Ms Langshaw moved to Sydney when she was 21 for her career, and sacrificed a lot for her deposit, including living in share homes.

But she loves where she grew up.

The couple, who both work long hours and many weekends in marketing, had their hopes dashed when the agent ghosted them, only to eventually inform them the house had been sold to someone else

‘When we recently got engaged I wanted to move back because we started thinking about our future and possible children and we wanted to be near my parents, surrounded by family – and have a yard.’

Ray White Parramatta’s asset and sales executive Amir Jahan told Daily Mail Australia he suspects the real estate agent was using a stalling tactic on the couple.

‘Some agents want to buy time. The reason is in case their first offer falls through, they have a back-up buyer,’ he said.

‘It sounds like as soon as the first offer went through, they ghosted the second buyer.’

He said he would never tell any buyers to write a letter about themselves or make them come and inspect it if they were happy.

‘It’s a basic process. Yes to accept. No to reject. Every single offer we get we respect the buyer.

‘For every buyer, it’s big money. It’s money they have saved up for their whole lives.

‘As an agent it doesn’t matter if it’s a high or a low offer, agents should tell the owner about all offers or interested parties.’

Mr Jahan suspects the agent probably had a high offer and was just using the couple.

‘He had them on the loop to wait until he saw what would happen with the first buyer,’ he said.

Real Estate Institute of NSW CEO Tim McKibbin told Daily Mail Australia he’s never heard of an agent asking a prospective buyer to write such a letter.

‘It’s extremely unusual. I’ve been in the industry for more years than I care to remember, and I have never heard of this,’ he said.

‘If it is a condition from the vendor the agent has an obligation to pass on the request [to write a letter], but it is very unusual.’

Mr McKibbin said the moral of the story was ‘you’ve got nothing until you have exchanged the contract’ – and recommends buyers exchange as soon as possible after doing their due diligence.

‘And that’s true if it is a first homebuyer or someone buying the MLC building in Sydney.’