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Sellers: Sometimes you should just take a nice long walk

By
Real Estate Agent with Century 21 APD

About a month go I had an out of town prospect visit my web site looking for a home in my area. They gave me a call informing me they loved all the information on my site and could I help them find a home in my area. The husbands' job was relocating them in a month and the wanted to buy instead of rent since the housing prices were so affordable. I kept in contact and sent them information and by the time they came in town we narrowed what exactly what they were looking for to 5 homes.

After 2 weeks they arrived in town and I proceeded to show them these 5 homes. The second to the last home filled there exact need and you could see it in there face this was the home for them. I'm not the type to pressure my buyers and they decided they would wait till they came back into town the following weekend to make an offer. To my surprise they called me that Tuesday letting me know they would be in town wednesday to make an offer but wanted to view it one more time. I called the listing agent to set up the appointment and he said the seller would be away during this time.

We showed up at the agreed time and to my surprise the sellers were standing at the front door. We greeted each other and I told them my buyers were going to view the home and I would see them later. The seller said in an arrogant voice "We aren't going anywhere just hurry up and look at the dam house". Ignoring him I started showing the house but the seller decided to follow us around. We got in the kitchen and I pointed out that one of the cabinet door glasses had a large crack. They were in the middle of saying it didn't matter they would replace them anyway when the seller blurted out "there's nothing wrong with his cabinets and there isn't anything wrong with his house". That is when the yelling started between the sellers and my buyers started.

I quickly got my buyers out but the damage was done. Even after them cooling off they decided they did not want to deal with the seller and would just rent a house. Prior to this they were willing to make a full price offer which I pointed out was overpriced, with 20% down payment, and were willing to pay go 10% over the listed price if another offer came in. They weren't even asking for any contribution from the seller. We would most likely be going to the closing table this week if those sellers had just taken a nice long walk.

Laureen Coup
Crossroads Realty - Bayville, NJ
Broker-Manager
I also love when sellers think its good to stay home during an open house!
Aug 19, 2007 11:14 AM
Rosemary Brooks
BMC Real Estate - 209-910-3706 - Stockton, CA
The Mother & Daughter Realty Team
You're good because I would have ended the tour so fast the seller would have been there talking to himself.  And I would write to the seller's agent (not you I am assuming). And I would let the broker of the agent know about it too.  The agent should be able to talk to that seller and see if he really want to sell his home or not and never show it again -- unless the agent is there and seller has taken a HIKE up Mt. St. Helen not a walk.
Aug 19, 2007 08:18 PM
Sell Your Home For $39.95/m 0%Commission - (915-240-5276) - Se Habla Espanol
Washington Group - Real Estate Agents - El Paso, TX

My goodness i feel your pain. I always try to get there early and tell them to turn on all the lights and take a walk. It will be better for the sale.

Oct 11, 2010 04:01 PM