keeping sane

So, here's one picture for you, Anthony (and everybody else). If you were at my wedding, it probably looks familiar... :)

My wife and I have taken to using Netflix to get to see all the great television shows that we never watched when they were actually on tv. Right now, we are watching the first season of "The West Wing". Well, last night we watched the episode when the President was stressed out about a hurricane, a hostage situation, and an ensuing strike of the nation's trucking industry, and the first lady had something like this to say: "Jed, you have a huge mind, and a big heart. But you can't fix the whole world...but it sure is fun to watch you try."

Sara looked at me and said these words to me, and they were pretty fitting. That offer I told you about yesterday...well...yeah...it was rejected. Why? Not sure. The house is still on the market, and the listing agent said that the sellers 1) loved my client, 2) appreciated the full price offer, and 3) would have the listing agent let me know if the listing changes. I was like, "You get a full-price offer from a pre-approved client that your sellers 'love', and you can't even give me a reason why the offer was rejected???!!!!" Nothing. We had asked for some seller contribution for closing costs, but asked for less that 3% of the transaction, and the rest of the terms were good...and nothing.

I was pissed. My client obviously upset. And my colleagues and office manager are as bewildered as me. I couldn't even sleep last night, drifting off around 2:30am, and waking up still somewhat angry around 6:00am. I was up, dressed, and off to the office at 7:30am to try to figure out what the next steps are.

Anyway, so that's that. We do have some recourse, but it includes rewriting an entire offer, and making it contingent on me presenting the offer personally, which is not customary for this market, and to which I'll likely face some opposition. The whole thing is just stupid. If my sellers ever get an offer for over 97% of asking price (what you have when subtract the requested closing help from the asking price) from a motivated, pre-approved buyer in a slowing down market, you better believe that offer will not be rejected outright. If you want to counter for the last 3%, fine. If you reject it, find another agent so that you can waste their time.

If that sounds harsh, I apologize. But, seriously, agents don't spend lots of money in marketing a house only to bring a ready, willing, and able buyer and have the sellers blow them off. That's crap. Argh.

I'll keep you posted.

Peace,
Greg