First-time buyer? No problem!

Stephanie and Don were first-time home buyers – they had identified some basic features such as the number of bedrooms and baths they preferred, but after looking at a number of homes it became clear that their two most important requirements were the home’s location and the lot size.

The “perfect” property became available and we rushed over in the late afternoon to look at it together. The home had all the features they wanted, including the large lot, and the location was ideal on a cul-de-sac! They knew immediately that this was “the one” and we returned to our office to work an offer.

Once the purchase contract was written and all the paperwork in order we contacted the listing agent to let her know that we had an offer. She phoned the seller who said that he would like to hear the offer right away. Stephanie and Don decided to have dinner at a nearby restaurant while their offer was being presented.

We presented the offer to the seller and the listing agent, and we shared the story of Stephanie and Don’s home buying process that refined their focus allowing them to recognize how his home perfectly met all of their needs, and how excited they were about the prospect of buying his home!

The seller indicated his appreciation of their offer, but was not satisfied with the price and with the help of his Realtor, issued a counter-offer. Stephanie and Don were still at the restaurant so we met them there to present the seller’s counter-offer. They decided to increase their offering price though it was still short of the seller’s desired price….off we went in search of the seller who was still with his Realtor. We met together again and presented the buyers’ counter-offer, but he was firm about his price and he declined their second attempt to purchase his home.

Several days later the seller’s Realtor contacted us to let us know that another offer was coming in on the home so that we could inform Stephanie and Don. After some discussion, Stephanie and Don decided to “re-activate” their last counter-offer even though it was short of the seller’s price expectation.

The timing was inopportune as one of us had guests over for Sunday evening dinner. Knowing how excited our clients were about this particular home, we wanted to do our best to represent them and an in-person presentation was the best way! Having met the seller on 2 previous occasions to present their offer, we figured the presentation would be brief, and possibly without a positive outcome given the seller’s insistence on his price.

After apologizing for showing up in casual attire and explaining why, the offer was again presented to the seller…and then the waiting period for the seller’s decision followed. About 20 minutes later the seller’s Realtor signaled a “thumbs up”! To her surprise and ours the seller had chosen Stephanie and Don’s offer though it was not the highest.…and it all had to do with his motivation.

The seller was moving back to Latin America immediately to take over his recently deceased father’s business. When his agent asked him why he had chosen Stephanie and Don’s offer over the higher one he observed that Stephanie and Don had tried 3 times to purchase his home in the past week and that their own agent had left her dinner party to support them in their efforts – this behavior demonstrated commitment to his home and that was what mattered most to him!