But don't expect me to work for free along with you!
Please humor me in this rant-I have a couple of points to make, actually.
I received an offer on one of my listings 10 days ago (hooray!), very LOOOOOOOOOOW but hey-that's the game some buyers choose to play. Bear in mind that this house is less than a year old, in beautiful condition, priced accurately in a good neighborhood/good town/good school district, etc. Has had excellent traffic. We negotiated over this ridiculously long 10 day period (around here things are usually hammered out within 24 hours unless banks or relo are involved), the sellers finally agreeing to the buyers' last counteroffer.
That was Friday.
On Saturday, still had no paperwork from the buyers (we started on paper and negotiated verbally as per our local custom), the buyer agent told me I'd have it Saturday. Nothing.
Sunday comes, nothing. I call the buyer agent to find out the scoop, he tells me I'll have it on Monday. I ask what the holdup is-do his buyers want the house or not? Because I haven't stopped showings, having nothing on paper at this point. He swears that they do want the house, but he can't press them to sign the contracts since-and I quote-"if I press them, they will think I'm working for you!"
Ahem. WHAT? That's not working for me-that's being honorable and getting contracts signed if you have the intention of purchasing a home! The seller agreed to YOUR counter, so where is the paperwork?
On Monday, the illustrious buyer agent calls my assistant-not me-and tells her that they will only sign the papers if we make one more concession. Which AIN'T GOING TO HAPPEN. My seller is pretty ticked at this point, he agreed to their proposal but they want to go back and ask for more? He (rightfully) feels pretty jerked around and doesn't appreciate it. Neither do I. So I called this agent back and explained that if indeed he feels so strongly that his people should have this last concession, HE can pay for it out of his commission.
Then it gets good. (are you hanging on the edge of your seat?) He tells me that he's already paying their closing costs (not to give away numbers, but the amount he shared with me is more than half of the buyer side commission), because they told him-I love this-that they wouldn't use him unless he did so. Did they smell a sucker? Perhaps. So he tells me that I can provide the concession out of my commission to hold the deal together. OH NO. Don't come after my hard-earned money because you can't be straight with your clients! My seller would have been FURIOUS had I given in, considering how weaselly (is that even a word?) this deal feels already.
So they went ahead and signed the contracts. We won. Without giving away the farm...
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