Oct
17
Maybe I Should Stop Complaining about Persistent Would-Be Buyers
October 17, 2007 |
I’d mentioned awhile back about meeting with a couple interested in House #2, but hadn’t really pursued that avenue. If anything, I’d slightly avoided it, as our realtor mentioned at closing that they’d asked him again about the house, what my plans were, could they contact me directly, etc.
I didn’t really get a bad vibe from them — plus they’re homeowners, drive nice cars, and seem reasonably well-off — but I wasn’t sure I was ready to deal with the logistics of signing a contract with them at this stage. They’re not looking for a fixer at all, so I’d basically be on the hook for ensuring that they got a turnkey, finished product at a certain future date, something I’m not necessarily able to promise, given the nature of some of the work that needs to be done.
So my basic plan was to get the bulk of the work done that I planned and then contact them during the final stages, to see if they were still interested; if so, I could work with them at that point about some final touches, such as interior paint colors, stain for the floor, carpet color, appliances, etc.
This last weekend, though, I was over at the house with my wife doing some work and the interested couple ambushed us, as they “happened to be in the neighborhood” and poked their heads in to see how things were going.
The husband seemed impressed at the progress so far, seemed to like all the proposed changes, and kept talking about how much he loved the lot, the big, old trees, etc. And he definitely freaked out when I mentioned that we were hoping to have things wrapped up by late November/early December at the latest, as he’d gotten the impression that it’d be the spring before we were ready to list the house again, and he kept going on and on about how he’d call their mortgage broker that afternoon, yada yada yada.
The more I roll it around in my head, the more I think I need to get more serious about this opportunity, and stop looking at it as a potential headache, as far as their involvement in the rehab. Yeah, it could quickly turn into a headache and yeah, promising leads fall through each and every day, but this could be a pretty golden opportunity, as far as getting the house sold very quickly, making a decent amount of money, and calling it good.
As much as I’d like to avoid much of the interacting with people part of the REI world, it’s pretty much a necessary “evil” and something I need to get over.
Comments
1 Comment so far
I hope that the prospective buyers aren’t reading this!