(post by BT) A new listing came on the market. It was land for sale. Posting claimed you can build 4 2- family houses. Asking price was $1,250,000. Real market value $1 million. Called one of my clients up (an investor) and told him to check it out. After he passed by the property, he asked me to make an all-cash offer of $1 mill. I’m thinking: Yes, This is a slam dunk! I will put the paperwork together.

It’s a Saturday and I call the listing agent on his cell. Explained to him we want to make a cash offer and would like to schedule an appointment to present the offer to the seller in person. “Well”, he says, “it’s been on the market only for one day” (so what!?) “. Is this a serious offer? I am not really around on weekends? I don’t think the seller is neither. Let me call her.” Few minutes later: “She’s not answering, let’s do it on Monday.” What the hell, is this guy crazy? First, let me explain. Realtors have many rules to follow, Board of Realtors guidelines that are set in place and, above all a fiduciary duty to our clients. All offers are to be presented immediately (yes, immediately), not 72 hours later! (Later I find out this is a Broker who owns an office with other agents in his office who are members of the local Realtor chapter’s board. These people break the rules that they are supposed to enforce!)

Monday arrives and I call him. Let’s set up an appointment. Here he goes again: “Well, is your offer serious?” First of all, I am a Realtor, not a caller from Craig’s list ad. And, “serious” is not up to us to decide - that is the seller’s decision. I am not even required to disclose the offer to him so I won’t (have my reasons!). “Give me 10 minutes. I will call you back”, he says. 30 minutes later I call him again. “Oh man, guess what. The seller’s child got injured and she is in a rush to the hospital at the moment, so we can’t go in person. But, if you want, we can call her over the phone. She has 30 minutes till she leaves to the hospital.” What?! Who the hell decides to rush to a hospital but leaves 30-minute window open to handle some business first? No damn way. Call her now, you liar.” He budges in.

We call her… first words out of my mouth: “Thank you for taking the time for this call in such a difficult time. I hope your child will be OK.” “Excuse me, what?” (She has no idea what I am talking about). A deep, confusing pause. So I present the offer quickly and she says “let me talk to my broker”. No questions, no comments, she sounds like she was scripted.

I get a call back from the broker later, and he says that it’s only been on the market for a few days so she wants to see “what else comes along”. Now, I work with a lot of builders and know for a fact that no builder will buy for more than a certain maximum price. Anything over that, they are sure to lose their shirt. They counter-offer with $1.2 million, still overpriced. “She will wait.”

I call my buyer. He is confused. Market price for raw land, cash offer, no time wasted and they don’t take it?! A seasoned local investor that he is, he asks me who the listing agent is. After I tell him, a few expletives come out if his mouth. He knows the broker – has nothing but negative experiences to say about him. He does not want to continue with the deal.

A week later, the listing broker calls. “Hey buddy, how are you? Listen, the seller is getting anxious and she reduced the price and she said she will be willing to accept your offer.” “Too late, moron. Your stupid games and bad reputation just killed another deal.”