Too Good to be True

by Shawn Lackie

This article could also be titled: Buyer quirks and quarks.

Remember the old adage, if it’s too good to be true it probably is? That pretty much sums up some of the potential clients you meet in the wonderful wacky world of real estate. If they run in the door waving a check-book saying, “We’re buying a house today,” chances are you’ll never see them again.

Any realtors reading this will be smiling and thinking, 'Ya pretty much.' That’s the nature of this business, and really, pretty much any business which requires the exchange of dollars for goods and services.

Many years ago, I had a business selling comic books and trading cards. I was living the collector’s dream. I used to have clients come in, all the time, talking big about just what the were going to buy and how much (A LOT) they were going to spend. After spending an hour wandering around the store, and asking many questions about goofy stuff, they just ambled out the door. Nice.

Undaunted, I refused to believe ALL potential buyers were full of nonsense. Sure enough, one Sunday afternoon, while I was closing up, after the door was locked, I had a person banging on the door. I opened it and asked what I could do for him. He said he had travelled all the way from Brantford because he had heard I had a good stash of Wayne Gretzky stuff. I let him in, fully expecting a browsarama, with no purchase but guess what? He bought over $400 dollars worth of goodies, in just under an hour. My faith was restored because that was the best sale I’d had in a month.

Fast forward to the world of Real Estate. I had a couple, who were interested in buying a home, in the Northumberland area. Extremely forthright in their intentions, they wanted, no NEEDED, to buy a home ASAP. Off we went. I would pick them up and would head east and usually look at five or six homes. We stopped for lunch (on me) and at the end of day, I would return them to their home, in Oshawa, and we’d set up the next appointments and schedule. This went on for two or three months and I was starting to wonder just how serious they were about buying. Then they just disappeared. I mean disappeared, like they had moved to Australia. I called a few times, just to see how they were doing and got no reply.

I can be thick as a brick sometimes. I have been called worse but I took these people at face value and believed them, until I didn’t. I got a call one day from them. It seems they were passing an open house, went in, loved the place, and put in an offer on the spot with the listing agent. It was a done deal. Just like that. They did, however, want to thank me for my time. Really? Cab services and house showings AND free meals, thanks?

I learned three valuable lessons which I have never forgotten. Don’t believe what they say, until the ink dries on a deal. Always get a Buyer Rep Agreement signed, and don’t provide free taxi service. Once burned, twice shy.

Feel free to check out this story and more on my blog site, at https://slackie14.wixsite.com/buy-sell-and-more.