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we don't get emotional about selling houses or properties we have owned as we make our living investing and selling/renting/flipping. However sometimes you get a real piece of work who makes you question if there's someone more polite or reasonable that you may have been better off waiting for.
We had a closing a few weeks ago on a property we had held for a number of years and actually lived in at one point while we were renovating. Transaction was smooth...conventional loan, putting 40% down, house sold as is and no issues or repairs, very good offer. I left a note congratulating the buyer, a small locally crafted gift and bottle of champagne during the final walk through (standard if we sell a place at a certain price point.)
We settled at the same time as the buyer was out of state and had to come some distance. We were in separate rooms and I could hear her complaining that she had not been left a certain decorative item that had been stored with a few pictures in a closet. The house was staged (by me) and we always put a few large pieces in closets to show capacity. This piece was not fixed to a wall or on display but sitting behind another piece and it would have taken some effort to dig it out. It was an antique of minimal value but was already back in staging storage. The buyer had an adult meltdown that it was not left behind though this was mentioned nowhere and it wasn't displayed on a wall. We offered to drive to storage to retrieve it and bring it to settlement but she refused and demanded a credit for several times what it was worth. Her agent finally talked sense to her so that the deal could move forward.
This person has already contacted us with requests to help her move items ("im a petite single woman and know you have a company so can you send me some help?") and asked us to introduce her to neighbors. In many years we have not encountered someone so petulant and helpless. This is why we prefer not to meet any buyers. Im actually feeling a bit bad for selling this house to her as we really enjoyed it when we lived there. But we got what we wanted out of the deal.
Not me, exactly. The house I grew up in was a very typical new England colonial home (in CT). It had oak hardwood floors, baseboards, banisters and trim. Light colored and high gloss poly finish.
My parents sold it and downsized when I was 14. Both my older brothers were out of the house (1 living in Boston, the other at college).
The people who bought it had a kid my age. One day I went back to my old house when the kid invited me over. This was not long after they bought it.
They had tried to paint over the baseboards and other trim with white paint. As you can imagine, paint over poly didn't work. It was thin and streaky and looked terrible. I actually felt bad about it, as it was my childhood home and I was very attached to it. I thought they ruined it and they didn't deserve such a nice house if they could do that to it.
That was the first and last time I got emotionally attached to a home. The realization that other people were going to change things, that the house wasn't going to be the same, broke me of ever getting that attached.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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We had a similar situation, when we sold our first house. We were bit worried because the buyer worked for the IRS, but we had our new home pending and had to take the good offer. After we moved out, a few weeks later our realtor called to say that the buyer was upset because we took the microwave. It was probably 5 years old, and was set into a shelf with built-in exhaust fan above the stove. She wanted $200 from us to replace it. So, I packed it into a box, well padded, and took it to UPS to send back to her. Then we bought ourselves a new one. Fortunately we never did have issues with our taxes.
we don't get emotional about selling houses or properties we have owned as we make our living investing and selling/renting/flipping. However sometimes you get a real piece of work who makes you question if there's someone more polite or reasonable that you may have been better off waiting for.
We had a closing a few weeks ago on a property we had held for a number of years and actually lived in at one point while we were renovating. Transaction was smooth...conventional loan, putting 40% down, house sold as is and no issues or repairs, very good offer. I left a note congratulating the buyer, a small locally crafted gift and bottle of champagne during the final walk through (standard if we sell a place at a certain price point.)
We settled at the same time as the buyer was out of state and had to come some distance. We were in separate rooms and I could hear her complaining that she had not been left a certain decorative item that had been stored with a few pictures in a closet. The house was staged (by me) and we always put a few large pieces in closets to show capacity. This piece was not fixed to a wall or on display but sitting behind another piece and it would have taken some effort to dig it out. It was an antique of minimal value but was already back in staging storage. The buyer had an adult meltdown that it was not left behind though this was mentioned nowhere and it wasn't displayed on a wall. We offered to drive to storage to retrieve it and bring it to settlement but she refused and demanded a credit for several times what it was worth. Her agent finally talked sense to her so that the deal could move forward.
This person has already contacted us with requests to help her move items ("im a petite single woman and know you have a company so can you send me some help?") and asked us to introduce her to neighbors. In many years we have not encountered someone so petulant and helpless. This is why we prefer not to meet any buyers. Im actually feeling a bit bad for selling this house to her as we really enjoyed it when we lived there. But we got what we wanted out of the deal.
Have you had a buyer you regretted selling to?
What do your RE laws say? I'm pretty sure in MI if it's not affixed to the wall (light fixtures, curtain hardware, etc) or explicitly listed as conveying with the property, it doesn't convey. Period. Even hanging on the wall doesn't automatically convey.
we don't get emotional about selling houses or properties we have owned as we make our living investing and selling/renting/flipping. However sometimes you get a real piece of work who makes you question if there's someone more polite or reasonable that you may have been better off waiting for.
This person has already contacted us with requests to help her move items ("im a petite single woman and know you have a company so can you send me some help?") and asked us to introduce her to neighbors. In many years we have not encountered someone so petulant and helpless. This is why we prefer not to meet any buyers.
Have you had a buyer you regretted selling to?
Yes and yes -- similar irritating situation. Helpless, entitled buyers who continued with MONTHS of complaints after closing. House sold AS IS, yet they hired a foreign housekeeper who broke two appliances (expensive European built-ins) and they wanted consideration. Asking for help with appealing taxes, meeting neighbors, names of tradesmen (which were all provided in an organized closing package, had they bothered to read it).
Solution -- block, then delete their contacts. It's amazing how effective these smartphones are to excise unwanted people permanently.
No, but a friend was sort of upset, maybe more like awed baffled, that a house he sold, it had great landscaping, and the new buyers tore it all out, the paver walk way, landscaping lights, palm trees, etc, I mean everything, and laid down grass with some square concrete stepping stone (those 1sqft things from HD) to go from the front porch to driveway. The buyer also ripped out the front wood fence area/gate, and put in a chain link larger gate so he could fit his boat there.
I did not own the place and I am even still baffled to this day why anyone would do that.
What do your RE laws say? I'm pretty sure in MI if it's not affixed to the wall (light fixtures, curtain hardware, etc) or explicitly listed as conveying with the property, it doesn't convey. Period. Even hanging on the wall doesn't automatically convey.
It didn't convey any would not according to local laws. It was sitting on a floor behind a few framed paintings. I did not even know what she was talking about when she first brought it up. I left it behind by accident. You would have had to move several objects even to see it so she was obviously shopping for new decor while touring.
No, but a friend was sort of upset, maybe more like awed baffled, that a house he sold, it had great landscaping, and the new buyers tore it all out, the paver walk way, landscaping lights, palm trees, etc, I mean everything, and laid down grass with some square concrete stepping stone (those 1sqft things from HD) to go from the front porch to driveway. The buyer also ripped out the front wood fence area/gate, and put in a chain link larger gate so he could fit his boat there.
I did not own the place and I am even still baffled to this day why anyone would do that.
Yikes! Just imagine how the neighbors feel going from seeing what sounds like a beautifully landscaped yard to a chain link fence and a boat everyday. I would also question what type of neighbor that person is if they would do such a thing without any regards to the neighborhood. I understand it’s your property to do with it as you please (within reason), but you still should have the decency to consider your neighbors, and their property values.
No. I know I conducted myself ethically during the transaction. I am not in charge of what someone else feels or what someone else does with the property.
No I wouldn’t care. If they're gonna act like a big baby I doubt I would offer to do anything. If they politely asked about the pieces I would most likely have no issue getting them to the buyer. (Unless it was a heirloom or personal item. I would simply state that)
As far as regrets...no I don’t really care who I sell a property as a buyer. If they are gonna behave like idiots I’m gonna say no and not d9 the transaction to begin with. just because they are idiots and making the sale harder than it needs to be.
Last edited by Electrician4you; 07-07-2020 at 06:55 PM..
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