On Thursday, we closed escrow on our latest listing in Terramar.
Other than the new roof and furnace, the house hasn’t been touched in 30 years – and it looked rough. As it has been happening more and more, we only received one offer in spite of the intense interest early on. It was a cash offer at $10,000 over list – and we took it…..before they changed their mind.
It is a standard business practice for buyers to tie up a property, and then go to work on getting a big price reduction after getting contractor quotes. Sellers can get annoyed, but think of the potential consequences. If we don’t handle this delicately, the buyers could walk – and then we are left with a big bag of goo (all reports get disclosed to the next buyer).
You never know how close a buyer is to cancelling, but we assume that their current enthusiasm is much less than it was in the beginning. In this case, they asked for a $80,000 price reduction!
Donna did a tremendous job of dissecting their requests and making suggestions. She noted that their termite report called for the premium siding to used on the back house, so she asked them to quote it using standard wood siding too:
Plus they submitted these quotes:
Plumbing: $15,000
Electrical: $7,120
Foundation repair: $7,250
Pool removal: $26,250 for the fancy choice ($16,400 for the basic plan)
Their five quotes added up to $80,000+, so they did a good job of justifying why they should get the price reduction. Donna gently got them to agree that there were other options available and that we had priced in the condition at the start.
We didn’t think we could do any better going back on the open market so she and the seller agreed to a $45,000 reduction. Market conditions are already squishy and nobody wants a fixer – let’s make the deal with these people. The key was meeting them MORE than half way with a full explanation.
They went for it!
Could we have done less for them? Maybe, but it’s always a gamble when the market is soft. Donna’s thorough yet friendly approach is our insurance policy that keep deals together!
Did you represent the buyer as well? If not, how much did the agent interact with you was it the actual buyer speaking to you?
Donna handles it 100% and she only deals with the other agent.
In this case, the buyer-agent was good and could carry his own luggage.
For those who can’t, Donna will only email them (no calls or texts) and include the right instructions because we know that most agents are so lazy and have so little to offer that they just forward the email directly to their client. It’s a way for Donna to communicate directly to their client, without actually doing it. Doing their job for them.
Donna is amazing and she makes Klinge Realty stand head and shoulders above the rest! Kudos to Donna!
@Eddie89 you are so kind! And I appreciate your thoughtful words – made my Monday!