Here’s a short cautionary tale.
Many years ago I was representing a buyer client in their purchase of a home in Westchester County. We found a listing in Cortlandt that appeared to check all the boxes, but Mrs. Buyer Client had something last minute come up and I saw it with Mr. Buyer Client only. He loved the place and asked me to submit an offer. I asked about his wife seeing the home before we started throwing numbers around, but he assured me that it was fine. I was skeptical. I should have advised him against it. I did not.
The offer was accepted.
They did not buy the house.
When she saw it soon afterward, it was not fine. I could have predicted this, but sometimes folks have to experience something firsthand to learn it. All decision makers should see a property before making an offer. Luckily, this was a pretty strong buyer market at the time, and they had plenty of options afterward. They ended up buying in Rockland county.
Fast forward to 2024, and a seller client got an offer on their home, and chose to accept it. Then, the buyer agent mentioned to me that one of his clients had not yet toured the home.
The sellers rescinded their acceptance. They engaged another buyer, and in this market sellers do often have the luxury of multiple offers. I do feel kind of bad for the first people, but getting into a contract with a party where not everyone walked through is irresponsibly risky. As I have often said, the purchase and sale of real estate is the largest transaction of most peoples’ lives. The margin for error should be minimized wherever possible. For a seller to lose a week or two on market with a 1-legged prospective transaction is a grave mistake that should be avoided like the plague. Timing, optics, stress, and many other factors can have this cost the seller quite a bit of money, and that is contrary to their agent’s job.
The risks are just as bad on the buyer side, and in this instance the representative should have advised the client to get everyone in to ensure the efficacy of the deal.
Sometimes the decision makers aren’t even going to live there, such as a parent who is helping financially. Regardless, if they are involved in the meeting of the minds, they should walk through the property. Sometimes there are extraordinary circumstances, such as pandemic restrictions or a spouse deployed overseas in the military. Those are rare exceptions in this market. I’d be curious as to how often this happens in other markets where military deployment is more common. Since this was a straightforward situation for my clients, the path was clear. There is simpy too much financial risk involved not to follow all best practices.
And that’s what they did.
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ALL Decision Makers Seeing a Home is Paramount Before Making an Offer
Here’s a short cautionary tale.
Many years ago I was representing a buyer client in their purchase of a home in Westchester County. We found a listing in Cortlandt that appeared to check all the boxes, but Mrs. Buyer Client had something last minute come up and I saw it with Mr. Buyer Client only. He loved the place and asked me to submit an offer. I asked about his wife seeing the home before we started throwing numbers around, but he assured me that it was fine. I was skeptical. I should have advised him against it. I did not.
The offer was accepted.
They did not buy the house.
When she saw it soon afterward, it was not fine. I could have predicted this, but sometimes folks have to experience something firsthand to learn it. All decision makers should see a property before making an offer. Luckily, this was a pretty strong buyer market at the time, and they had plenty of options afterward. They ended up buying in Rockland county.
Fast forward to 2024, and a seller client got an offer on their home, and chose to accept it. Then, the buyer agent mentioned to me that one of his clients had not yet toured the home.
The sellers rescinded their acceptance. They engaged another buyer, and in this market sellers do often have the luxury of multiple offers. I do feel kind of bad for the first people, but getting into a contract with a party where not everyone walked through is irresponsibly risky. As I have often said, the purchase and sale of real estate is the largest transaction of most peoples’ lives. The margin for error should be minimized wherever possible. For a seller to lose a week or two on market with a 1-legged prospective transaction is a grave mistake that should be avoided like the plague. Timing, optics, stress, and many other factors can have this cost the seller quite a bit of money, and that is contrary to their agent’s job.
The risks are just as bad on the buyer side, and in this instance the representative should have advised the client to get everyone in to ensure the efficacy of the deal.
Sometimes the decision makers aren’t even going to live there, such as a parent who is helping financially. Regardless, if they are involved in the meeting of the minds, they should walk through the property. Sometimes there are extraordinary circumstances, such as pandemic restrictions or a spouse deployed overseas in the military. Those are rare exceptions in this market. I’d be curious as to how often this happens in other markets where military deployment is more common. Since this was a straightforward situation for my clients, the path was clear. There is simpy too much financial risk involved not to follow all best practices.
And that’s what they did.