The Title girl is emailing me and asking when is the sellers going to come in and sign. I told her Bob is coordinating that and she says OK just need them to make an appointment. I instructed her to split the $27,500 check and write out 2 separate checks for Bob and I.
So if this signing doesn’t happen today or tomorrow, then Monday is a holiday so it cud delay things a few days or a week, which is expected. Only A few times have things have gone according to plan.
Now it’s getting down to the wire, I assume Bob is totally freaking out, he needs this 14 Grand to stay afloat and kick the direct mail into gear. I won’t lie, It would hurt to lose this deal. But luckily, it seems everybody wants it to happen, the sellers want their money, the buyer wants the deal and Bob and I want our assignment fee, now if only we can get these crazy sellers in to sign.
Bob now says the male seller couldn’t cash his 5K check because his drivers license had expired. Oh the insanity!
Some back taxes are owed on the property but these people shud walk away with 50K each.
Keeping the fingers crossed.
I just got Bob’s response for a request to get sellers in to sign. It is almost comical.
UGH…called them 3 times yesterday, (texted) their not ready as husband has no id and can’t cash the check, their going to split up, fighting like cats and dogs I’ve seen a few times already. Currently have smoothed things over, he has applied to DMV for id and in process but most likely 3 weeks out anyway. …yeah…UGH!! I asked to picked them up and he can use old id, but she can’t leave him high an dry is my thought. I haven’t heard from them this morning, already sent them a texted with possible hey lets’ try even with old id…so it appears were on HOLD…I’ll let everyone know
I’ve begged them weeks ago to try an get an id somehow some way…
Bob
It’s been over a week with no word. I sent Bob an email telling him about the skip trace service I bought and the probate course.
He comes back with another story from the dark side. Bob is in constant contact with these sellers on a daily basis.
He went on about how blankity blank frustrating it was.
Bob is just being too nice and accommodating with taking them places and holding their teething ring. Now he says he’s helping them buy another place with the buyers help. Oh hurt me… Bob needs to be beat with a testosterone stick.
I wuda prob tossed this deal b4 I went full retard.
Will Bob emerge with his dignity intact? Will he finally be able to pay his mortgage and bills and jump into a direct mail campaign with Rando? Will the deal ever close?
Another week had gone by. My buddy Bob calls last night, he actually picked up sellers and took them to the signing.
It shud have been a simple thing, but oh no, not with these sellers. On the big day, Bob wakes early, he’s actually optimistic.
His optimism fades quickly.
Bob was frantic, he arrives at sellers home and Mr. seller is not there. Bob and Mrs seller go to his workplace. They get him in the car and headed to the big City for the meetup and get this thing put to bed.
But wait, they had to go back to the house to get Mr sellers ID.
We are rolling now, Bob calls Title and tells them they will be an hour late.
I feel guilty, I’m home sleeping in, lounging in my pool and gardening.
Now this is where Bob almost loses it.
After arriving and having the paper work to sign in front of them, Mrs Seller says “why does it say selling price is $107,500?”
I thought it was 110? Bob said she was getting loud and not listening. She gets up and storms out of the building, not to be found. Bob was apologetic to the title girl. Can a deal he’s worked on this long and hard be out the window just like that?
The husband had already went after the wife.
after a half hour Bob went looking for them, he then goes to get a burger and is seriously thinking about driving back in defeat and with out these blank blank sellers from hell, in his car.
Finally somehow, they all get back into the office. Mrs seller was now asking, why does it say here that are we only getting $97,500?
Because Mrs seller, you have already accepted 10 Grand, remember?
And what about this, why are you holding $3,000 out? Because, buyer wants to give u incentive to be out in the 30 days as we all agreed. Remember we went over all this 3 million times. Yes you will get that. But Bob, you said we wud get 50 grand each? Yes Mrs seller, with the money you get today, and the advanced money already received and the 3K you get in 30 days it is well over 50K each.
Poor Bob, he went on and on about the countless emails and the whining and bickering between these 2, I think he was emotional traumatized by these 2 miserable unhappy sellers. This deal has dragged on for 2 frikin months.
Bob tells me we got checks this coming Friday. for $13,750 Frikin dollars each. Really? I’ll have to keep my promise to dance naked on a full moon with live bull frogs.
Bob deserves a medal for the courage and dedication to the call of the wild. But he asked for an extra grand in battle pay.
I’m thinking, is there anything else that can go wrong with this happy ending?
Let’s make some Money
Rando
I have never had that level of patience. I’m sure I’ve missed opportunities.
In my experience however, sellers who acted like this, were the ones that weren’t forced to work to close on the deal at the beginning of the negotiations. Things came too easy. The solution, too simple. As a result, the seller never had confidence that he had gotten everything he could. This lack of confidence just begs for renegotiations and second-guessing of everyone’s intentions.
I was this way as a buyer on the first deal I ever did. It came so easy, that I second-guessed it every step of the way, and I frustrated the seller and his agent with new requests and concessions, until they wanted to shoot me.
In fact, the seller came to closing with a check for a $1,000 just to shut me up, and get me to sign.
His agent refused to let that happen, and I had finally worked hard enough for the deal, that I knew I was getting all I was supposed to get.
Sometimes, the seller doesn’t need to be worked over much more. They’ve been through a couple of failed escrows, creditors are crawling down their backs, they’re getting certified collection notices, and the whole shebang. So, by the time I show up with an offer, it’s not an overly complicated matter of getting a closing. That doesn’t mean the seller shouldn’t be made to work to close the deal.
It’s amazing how even the most motivated sellers can get stupid, right after we relieve their pressure. All of the sudden, they imagine they had options.
To stop that, we load the front porch of our offer with demands, and force the seller to work to either meet those demands or make concessions, in order to feel good about giving up most of his equity.
Just some thoughts.
*** It seems everyone wants to make, and receive, clean, easy deals, but unless both parties are forced to work for the deal, it’s likely not going to close, regardless of how clean, and easy. And that’s why I believe that ‘dirtying up’ an offer is more profitable, and efficient way ensure a smooth closing.
FWIW
Javipa, define dirtying up an offer. is that making unreasonable buyer demands that can easily be trashed so as to seem we are giving up a lot to get a little?
I knew of one investor that wud claim he wanted all the furnishings included in the price.
Of course the sellers needed those and they wud have to lower the price.
I’ve tried that a few times, and I got some great stuff, fridges, tools. junk.
It means not making ‘clean offers.’ Or it means asking for more than you want, so that you can give up, make concessions, or otherwise force the seller to feel good about walking away with nothing, but his dignity.
For example, assuming you’ve seen the house, and are making an informed offer, your purchase offer might include asking the seller to replace all the carpeting, repaint the interior, seal and paint the basement floor and walls, and include all the kitchen appliances, household furniture, and contents of the garage in the sale price of Twenty-five thousand dollars.
The point is to find the seller’s limits; get him to say “no;” and otherwise make him work for the deal. The point isn’t to get all this stuff for $25k.
You know you’ve arrived, when the seller finally says “No, are you kidding? I’m not painting the basement floor! If I’m gonna sell for $25, I’m not doing that.” Then you slowly accept the seller’s demands and settle on $25k.
That’s a most simplistic illustration, but it outlines the objective.
One last thing concerning concessions, we never want to give up something without getting something else in return. It doesn’t have to be remotely equivalent, but it needs to be something. Otherwise, whatever we gave up without a concession, appears to be a dishonest demand, and undermines our negotiation and our credibility.
Barney Zick’s course “He Who Talk First(last) Wins” is where I learned to frame offers this way. I could say a lot more, but I can’t.
Last minute scramble.
Bob called yesterday, he says the Title company called and there is no instructions on how to divvy up the assignment fee.
I quickly turn the car around and take the assignment of contract and scribble a hand written note at the bottom of the contract that says the assignment fee will be divided up by 50% to Rando and Bob and I signed it, then I email it to Bob who also signs it.
Then Bob sends it into Title.
Bob says it’s closing today. Which is Friday and it was supposed to close 2 days ago.
I tell Bob those checks wont be ready for us to get our grubby hands on till Monday or Tuesday.
Bob says Tuesday is a Holiday. I then tell him the Title company will take a 4 day holiday and you can expect your check next Friday.
Bob says, oh man don’t tell me that. I think Bob was planning an excursion to the coast with his cute Mexican girl friend.
So close but so far…
I never thought it wud happen, oh I hoped and I was a little optimistic, but now its a done deal.
Bob calls to say the checks will be ready at 1:30. I tell Bob to pick up my check and come on by cuz I want to take a photo of us holding our checks with big smiles.
He says I cant, I got Mrs seller in the car with me. Holy crap, Bob is way to accommodating.
But that probably a big part of why this deal finally finished.
Of course Bob was in high spirits today.
I’m still worried something cud go wrong even as I hold this check.
The title girl came out to meet me, she was way too pretty and touching my shoulder with a big smile.
Now its time to get some direct mail going.
Let’s make some Money…
Rando