This is the first l time I have been able to admit this to myself. Somehow, I feel this was an ethical dilemna that I failed to properly deal with as well. I have failed to get the job done for my client. The fault is mine, because I promised myself, and my client, that I would get the job done. Now, five months later, I admit that I cannot get the job done, and I am throwing in the towel.
If there is anything I can console myself with, it's that I did my best. I really tried my best.
Here is the story:
Client is a divorcee, sold her Single Family Home, after having it listed with another agent. That relationship had soured, because the property had been an overpriced listing, was not staged, showed poorly, and there were three dogs on the property. I had been called in to possibly take the listing over when it expired, which would be in a few weeks. The ex-husband shot that down, said there was no reason to change real estate agents, even though the home had been on the market for 6 months with no action.
Finally, after several major price reductions, and very bad feelings towards the selling agent, she sold her home. Then she called me to help her find her new home.
She is a co-worker of my significant other, so in spite of the information I will give you next, I told her I could help her find a new property. That's where I set myself up for failure.
The first problem was that the proceeds from her sale were significantly less than what she had projected. I thought we would be shopping in the price range of nearly $400,000. After her home sold, I had her go to my lender, and he qualified her for just about $300,000 even.
The second problem; the three dogs. In her price range, a single family home was not an option. Apartments were out too, due to personal preference, So our only option would be townhomes. Finding a pet-friendly Association is a challenge in itself. Finding one that would accept three dogs would be nearly impossible. We're not talking little lap dogs either. Two Huskies and a Labrador Retriever.
The third problem; location. She immediatley defined the areas she would be willing to consider, and that posed a significant hurdle. She defined a narrow corrider that would severly limit possibilities due to her ability to afford a property in those areas.
Now, at this point, I was gently letting her know that she would need to modify some of her requirements, and be open to looking in areas a little outside of her narrow corridor, try to come up with more money, or find some other options. She kinda-sorta acknowledged my urgings, but in reality she wasn't going to budge.
In spite of all these impossible restrictions, I did find two properties that had real possibilities for her. In the areas she wanted, in her price range, the association was ammenable to granting an exception to allow her three pets, and at least one of the properties was, in my opinion, pretty desirable. I found these properties in the first two weeks of our searching, and frankly, I was amazed that I had done so so quickly. I had no illusions about the scale of the challenge I had taken on.
Her reaction? let's just keep looking. AAArRRgghhhh!!
Then, I came up with another property that was just about two miles outside of her preferred area. It was not even listed yet, It was an estate sale that the relatives of a recently deceased homeowner wanted to just sell and be done with it. They were asking $299,000, over $50,000 below market value. It was a large townhome, with garage, a fenced backyard, in excellent condition. Heck, I wanted to buy it!
Her response? Didn't even want to look at it.
That's when I decided, it was time to throw in the towel. We had looked at over twenty properties. I can't even tell you how many MLS searches I had e-mailed her, or how many times she asked me to look into properties that we had already thoroughly researched and eliminated.
Sadly, the fact is, I had failed. What I had failed to do, most importantly, was to stay in the real world, and I had let her needs and wants drag me into her world of fantasy. I had failed to sufficiently define the real possibilities versus the pie-in-the-sky pipe dreaming that this client was engaged in.
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