WORST Clients Ever...Finally Under Contract
Funny Blog post! We all have clients from time to time that just can't get past two or three things about a home, and so they dismiss it as a possibility. I fully agree that specific objections about a home are not really all that important, because the "house is just not right for them"...whatever the reasons.
Thanks to Susan Haughton for sharing her experience. The P.S. of this post really caught me by surprise! Funny....
I thought I would never get this couple under contract...their parameters have changed several times, other times they thought they were "close" but would never pull the trigger and write an offer. I found them house after house with all the things they SAID they wanted, but it was never "quite right."
The weeks dragged into months into more than a year...just thinking about going out to look at more houses gave me a headache. On the positive side, they really didn't see THAT many houses in person, but they sent me listing after listing to discuss.
And then there were the listings that didn't meet most of their "must have" criteria...I became flummoxed by some of the houses they wanted to see, because they really weren't at all what they said they wanted.
I was beginning to despair they would ever find anything.
Then a house popped up on the MLS on Saturday night; I made arrangements for them to see it Sunday afternoon. By the time we arrived at the house, there was already one offer in the listing agent's hand. If this couple wanted the house, they were going to have to make a quick decision, something they exhibited no evidence of being able to do. And I wasn't sure they wanted to get into a bidding war as the husband had already expressed his opinion of the price and his "offering price" before we even saw the house.
Oh, boy.
We get to the house and it has a lot going for it...5 wooded acres on a private lake. Only 5 years old, so all the newer bells and whistle. Gorgeous kitchen and baths. 2 story stacked stone fireplace. Dark hardwoods, just a beautiful home, although smaller than the buyers wanted.
Oops, negative #1, the lake is shared with 3 neighbors, although the lake is big enough you don't even see the neighbors' houses. Negative #2, electric cooking, definitely a no-no. Negative #3, it was going to be hard to put a pool in without a lot of major earth moving. Office was on the 2nd floor, not the 1st floor. And finally, we had to drive down a gravel road to get to the property. Wife wasn't sure she wanted to subject her little BMW to that every day.
Imagine my shock when they said "let's go for it" and suggested a price $20,000 over the listing price.
Something about that beautiful little home spoke to them and their priorities changed in a heartbeat. They decided they could simply make the negatives work. I've learned over the years when clients start explaining why they don't like a house, it really doesn't matter what the reasons are...it's just not the right house for them.
And that is okay. When they see the right house, all the hesitation, the excuses, the difficulty in decision-making will vanish in an instant. We just have to let them trust their gut.
p.s. Oh, yeah, these clients? It was my husband and me. Yes, we have been a royal PITA, but at the end of the day, we are absolutely thrilled with our new lake house and know we have made the right decision.
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