What's with the misplaced hostility towards my buyers???

I have some wonderful first time homebuyers who made a full price offer on a short sale back in January.  Their offer put a halt to the foreclosure sale, which was just a week or two away at that time. We began the waiting process as I educated them to the hard facts about short sales.  The offer was finally accepted in April, in time for them to qualify for the tax credit.  Then we found out that the seller was demanding certain things of the third party creditor and the deal was in danger of self-destructing.  Uh oh.

Next we learned that the buyer's financial situation had changed from the time they were pre-approved in January to the acceptance of their offer.  They needed seller paid closing costs of $5000 so we amended the purchase contract to add $5000 to the purchase price, and request $5000 seller concession for closing costs.  It took THREE WEEKS for the seller to agree to sign the addendum so it could be submitted to the third party creditor for approval..

The home is tenant occupied.  The deadline for closing is May 21.  Among other things, the seller demanded the tenants stay in the home through May so he could collect a full month's rent.  Hmmm.  After the nightmare of trying to get him to sign the addendum, the listing agent and I knew we had to walk on egg shells or we ran the risk of the seller torpedoing the deal altogether. 

In an effort to protect the interests of my clients, among other things I asked for the damage deposit to be credited to the buyers at closing, and they would refund to the tenants if the home was left in good order.  Oh my gosh, he went ballistic, and said that there wasn't much of a damage deposit and he had to use it to pay taxes on the house.  Yowzer. 

I requested proof of 30 days WRITTEN notice to the tenants, which I did receive.  Then I forwarded a nice email to the listing agent with a Delayed Possession agreement for his seller to sign.  Just normal things that the seller of a tenant occupied home agrees to in order to give the buyers some level of protection.  That pleasant and professional email of mine was met with such an irrational, out of control response that I actually had to laugh at it!  Here it is:

Attn : Janna Rankin Scharf,
Keller Williams
 
From : xxxx xxxxxx Owner/Seller of this property
 
Hello Janna,
 
I cannot help but reply to your yesterday's email sent to xxx xxxx.
 
Your statement about your buyers "going the extra mile" to be considerate to me..... makes me gag.
 
Frankly, I think I am the one doing the extra distance so that these people can realize a screaming deal.... even letting them add $5K to the price at such a late date.
 
The  late possession document you drafted for my signature is insulting to say the least.... I will in no way sign anything even similar to that.
 
If your buyers are not happy with taking somewhat of a chance on getting this deal, they can back out at any time as far as I am concerned.
I certainly am the losing party on this deal so don't even suggest that I take responsibility for any additional costs whatsoever to close this deal.
They can have the property "AS IS" and take possession on June 1st.... or not at all.
 
Frankly, it would be in my interest if your people just backed out and let me keep the property.... although I intend to pursue the current agreement at this time.... if they reneged....ok with me.
 
Regards,
xxxx xxxxxx
Current Owner

Did you catch the part where he said it would be in his interest if my people backed out and let him keep the property?  As if my people were the ones NOT letting him keep his property!  His property would have been sold on the courthouse steps back in January had my people not come to his aid with an acceptable short sale offer that forestalled his foreclosure.  Which has allowed him to collect another 5 months rent from his tenants while not making his mortgage payments!  And they have agreed to delay possession for 11 days after closing with no compensation.  Yet, he has somehow twisted his anger at the world and directed it at my clients, who have done nothing but bend over backwards to appease him.

You may wonder why we are tolerating this behavior and moving foreword.  The reason is that it is the perfect home at a great price for my buyers, who lost out on several homes in multiple offer situations.  It was very competitive in our market for good starter homes for seekers of the first time homebuyer tax credit.  They and I agree that getting this particular house at this price is worth the hassle.

I can't help but wonder if others are seeing misdirected hostility like this now that short sales are becoming more common.  I hope it's not a trend that we will see rise along with the numbers of short sales in the coming months....