Reluctant Buyers

I'm working with one of the nicest buyers I've ever met. I like her (I almost always like my clients, but she's particularly nice - and I'd be so happy to help her find what she's looking for). She's on an automated search, meaning that when something turns up in the Multiple Listing System that meets her criteria, she receives an email notification with the property details. And when she sees something that looks good, she calls me and we go look.

A couple of weeks ago, I thought we'd found just the right thing. Stucco, red tile roof, around 2000 sf home built around 2000. Good location for her. Three car garage, RV gate, covered patio, pebbletec pool. Nice floor plan. Great kitchen - love that kitchen. Fireplace. Gently-used. NOT a short sale (did you get that - NOT A SHORT SALE!!!) and not trashed. Window coverings all in place. The carpet needs help - either a professional cleaning or replacement - maybe some of both. But the yard was in decent shape.

The problem was that by the time we got to it, it had been on the market about a week and there were five other offers. We wrote the best offer we could - a little over list price - and we asked the seller (a bank) to pay most of buyer closing costs. The bank countered somebody else's offer. Darn. But my buyer still liked it, so I approached the seller's agent again, after our offer had expired, to see if there was any chance at all.

Well, there was! The buyer that the bank had countered somehow went away - I don't know the details - so we were still in the game. The bank countered our offer, but the terms remained the same: same price we offered, same deal as to buyer closing costs.

And here's where it gets painful: my buyer has decided to pass. She knows what she's comfortable with as to monthly payments - and given the amount of down payment, this pushes her just past her comfort zone. She's within lender criteria as to what she's eligible for. All the same, monthly payments for the forseeable future - 30 years worth - is a big commitment in today's economy, with all its uncertainty about job stability.

Rent receipts don't help much when could use your interest as a tax deduction, but on the plus side, you aren't trapped either.

It's not the decision I'd have made, but I respect that she's made it. We'll look for the perfect house at a lower price - and keep fingers crossed.