I was working with a young couple, new to our area.  I was cautious and wary of them.  They told me over and over that "they wanted to negotiate" with any potential sellers we got under contract.

Well, I didn't exactly know what that meant.  I mean we certainly weren't in a buyers market.  On the contrary, it was customary to have multiple offers and have to offer more than asking price--and even that wasn't a guarantee for successfully winning a bid.

So, I thought I would go along and show them some properties.  I wouldn't get too involved, maybe show them a few homes and if I felt they were just fooling around wasting my time, I'd refer them out to another agency!

Well, we found a large home under construction.  They wanted me to get further info.  Which I did.  They wanted to go back to the property several more times.  I took them. 

Then, they decided they wanted to see some more homes.  Well, at this point I started to feel it might be time to cut them loose.  They weren't serious.  And I kept getting back to that "negotiate with the sellers" statement.  And, on top of that, they kept telling me upon entering each home, that each was overpriced and they wouldn't pay the money for it. 

RED FLAGS!

A couple of weeks pass and I'm still with 'em.  O.K., I was a new agent and had already spent the commission.  They decide they want to put an offer on that new construction.  Really?  Great.  "I'll meet you at my office, 5:30 tonight and we'll write it up!"

With a kiss to my wife I screeched off to the office, excited to finally get these people under contract!

They came, promptly at 5:30 PM.  Very polite.  Very professional.

They started answering my line-by-line queries: When do you want to close, what kind of financing, earnest money deposit, price...how much?  Guys, you've seen how the market is, you know you stand to lose this property by coming in with an offer that low...

O.K., I put it down.  But I'm only gonna' waste my time maybe once or twice more then I'm ditching them, just watch!

Then, the clincher.

"You want me to ask the builder to finish the bonus room over the garage?  For FREE??"

"Guys, come on, this is too much.  We're wasting our time!"

"Fulton, are you representing us as our Buyer Agent, or not?  Please, put it in the contract!"

Alright.  I did it.  He had me on that 'am I or am I not representing him' thing.

But I knew the builder would never go for any of this.

So I presented the offer.  The builder's agent had an even worse reaction than mine.  Ouch.  But I reminded her that she DID have to present the offer.

She did.

A few days later she called me.  We both couldn't believe it.  The builder countered only a little higher in price and agreed to split the cost of finishing the bonus room!!  Huh??

I relayed to my buyers.  They were pleased with the negotiations and, after a little more haggling (which I won't recount, here) , agreed to the contract.

What lessons did I learn?

1.  Advise your clients but don't be so rigid just because you think you know what's commonplace for this market.

2.  If you don't ask, you don't get (think Mom taught me that one).

3.  Lighten up, Francis!  It's not about the money.  It's about representing your client, your future referral source, and doing what's right.

4.  I could never have known what the seller's motivations were.  Nor did it matter.  He wanted to sell.  I had ready and willing buyers--I just mistook their readiness because of my cultural boundaries. I needed to listen to my client's needs and put down what they were comfortable with and negotiate with their best interest in mind.

5.  And though they came from a different cultural and geographic area, I shouldn't assume they were naive.  It was customary for them to negotiate in ANY market--that was their cultural norm.

I learned a lot during that transaction.  Lessons I carried forward, as I represented their friends and peers moving to our town.