Being in the middle of 5 sets of negotiations has made me aware of some not-so-sharp negotiators out there.
I just received a call tonight from a Realtor who has a listing we submitted an offer on earlier in the day. It’s a nice small condo in a historic building in town.
Wait, let me rewind a bit.
Last night the Realtor calls me, and practically begs me to bring an offer on the property. He went out of his way to tell me that his client was ‘motivated;’ when I asked if there was wiggle room in the price he said I should ‘bring her an offer’ & ‘I can probably get a deal together.’
[That’s real-estate-agent-speak for “bring me a below list price offer”]
We put in an offer, at 93.5% of asking price. A recent comparable in the complex sold at 97.4% of asking price. The unit is the smallest in the building, is vacant, has been through an offer which fell apart already AND has been sitting on the market for over 70 days. Good combination for my buyer right?
I think our offer was fair given the circumstances; clearly if the unit was priced right it would have sold already !
Anyways, the Realtor calls me up tonight, after viewing the offer at her office. He asks me, with an incredulous tone in his voice, ‘why did the offer come in below the list price?’
I decided to list all of the fundamental reasons for our offer, including how we arrived at the price we did (and believe me, a spreadsheet or two was involved in our deliberations!). I pointed out that there were no other offers on the table right now, that the unit is sitting vacant, and that other units in the complex are being sold while this one sits unsold, passed over time and time again.
I did not however remind him that he told me his client was ‘motivated’ and ‘looking for offers.’ I didn’t think it would be polite 🙂
He finally came to his senses and decided he’d recommend his client counter the offer with a price below the list price. Negotiation – a novel concept in real estate ?
Moral of the story: If you tell me to bring a low offer, I’ll bring a low offer – and I’ll get it for less than you wanted to sell it for.
What things have you seen co-operating agents do recently that have cost their clients money ?
