Always ask, and then ask again

Yesterday I wrote about this being the time of the year to get a bargain from a national homebuilder. Last year at this time I had an experience that really demonstrated this.

Lake Hogan farms is one of my favorite neighborhoods in Chapel Hill where I have sold many homes.

 David Weekley Homes was just finishing out the neighborhood with three lots for new homes remaining plus the model home left to sell. They wanted to move the on site agent on to another neighborhood and listed the last four with me. The model was to be returned to new condition before pricing and putting it in the MLS. It was a beautiful home so I had a list of people who wanted to be notified when it was listed on the market.

Only one of the three lots had a home started on it yet and I had been emailing with a ReMax agent, Dave, about it. He had a buyer that he was going to take out to the site on that Sat. but I wasn't able to meet him as I had another appointment. Dave said if his buyer liked the neighborhood he would call me and we would meet on Monday. On Sat I got a call from Dave who said he was at the model and it looked like it was being fixed up to sell. The workers were there and could they take a look? I told him to go ahead. It always helps to see a finished home. Later I got a call from Dave who said they wanted to make an offer on the model. I was confused because ReMax Dave had told me his buyer wanted to custom build. Well, that was when I realized that this was a different Dave! He and his wife just happened to be driving through the neighborhood and saw the dumpster outside the model. I told him that it wasn't officially on the market and wasn't for sale at that time. Dave said "does that mean I can't make an offer?" I said of course I would present all offers but for them not to get their hopes up as I had a list of names of interested buyers waiting for it to become available and the builder knew that.

We met at the house. I explained agency in North Carolina to the buyers who them chose to work with me as a dual agent. We filled out the buyer agency and dual agency forms and went on the discuss the details. As a dual agent in North Carolina I can't advise the buyers what to offer or the seller what to take but I could share with them the market analysis that I had just prepared for the neighborhood. They decided on an offer price and I wrote it up. It was lower than I had suggested to the builder for a sales price and I didn't think they had a chance to get the house but did spend the time to go through the house to make sure everything they wanted was on the offer. That's really important because with a builder once the house is under contract you can forget any changes/additions. I sent it over to the builder who called me the first thing in the morning and said if they could close by December 31st they had a deal. I was shocked and very happy for the buyers. Everything went smoothly and the house closed on time with buyers who got the house they really wanted and a deal too.

This is why I advise to ask for what you want, ask again and ask again in a different way because if you don't ask the answer is always no.