When part of the job is NOT making the sale

said on November 2nd, 2010 filed under: Information for Buyers

Back in the summer I was working with some clients who were bidding on a property. Negotiations were going somewhat slowly because of travel, kids, sickness (on the part of the Seller), you name it. And somewhere in the back and forth my buyers got cold feet.

Hats off to the Listing agent. He really wanted it to work, and so did I. Heck, that’s how we get paid. So we set about to make it happen, with everybody doing a little giving and taking. But guess what? In the time it took to get there (we’re going on 4+ days), my buyers got cold feet. It’s true, they did counter, but their hearts weren’t in it any more. As we were getting closer and closer, I had to say to my clients: “Hey- if you want this to work, we can make it happen. But I have to know if your hesitancy is about the money or about the house”. When they let me know it was about the house, it was simply time to stop negotiating, and we withdrew the offer. They had made their decision. And, you know what? That’s o.k. It means I was doing my job. The last thing I want to do is push people into a house they don’t want. My clients make the decisions. I facilitate them.

I should be thankful, and I am, that their indecision occurred prior to the offer being accepted. None of us enjoy being put through the paces of an inspection only to have it used as a way to get out of a contract. The Listing agent was certainly thankful… he had zero interest in taking an offer that was lukewarm, at best. And who can blame him- it’s a great disservice to the Seller and the listing.

In the end, I think my buyers made the right decision. From a re-sale point of view, it wasn’t my favorite house. When the time came to sell it again, I think they would have had some issues (unless they went through with all of their plans, but who can guarantee that!). Time will tell, eh?

Buying a house is a little like jumping off a cliff. No matter how prepared you are to buy one, once you decide to jump, things really get rolling fast. Some people make it to the end in one piece… and others pull the emergency cord on the parachute. A good agent = parachute.

posted by Marcie Sandalow

This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 2nd, 2010 at 9:12 am and is filed under Information for Buyers. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.