House not closed yet. It will close on the 29th supposedly. selling a house is like playing poker and i think i've shown too much weakness in these negotiations. i think that the buyer has been taking advantage of my show of weakness, perhaps even bluffing. i need to stop showing weakness and counter the buyer's offers. stop folding and giving away the blinds each hand.
We started off both showing some weakness
My first offer: 299,900
After 2 weeks, we got no bids, I was forced to lower my asking price to 285K, showing some initial weakness.
Buyer's first offer: 280K
I received multiple offers so I uped the ante by revealing that there were multiple offers.
The buyer then capitulated to my raise by counter-offering to 285,100.
Now comes the part where I start capitulating to the buyer's demands without any counter-offering.
After the inspection, buyer requests repairs to certain items such as disposal, heater, AC, bathroom sink drain, etc.
I concede to buyer's demands by agreeing to repairs and credits without any counter offers. Nothing is wrong with the air conditioner, but buyer's inspector says that AC does not force enough air.
2 weeks before closing buyer appears to be letting date slip.
I should have warned the buyer at this point that there would be consequences for slipping the date. Not showing strength here only showed the buyer that i wasn't going to do anything about the buyer's tardiness.
Repairs are completed to the AC (about $550) and heater (covered under insurance with a deductable of about $75)
Buyer slips the closing date (June 1). I should have made an offer to the buyer at this point to have the buyer concede a credit for letting the date slip. Now she thinks she can just walk all over me.
About one week after original closing date, I warn the buyer that she will be in breech of contract if she does not close by 22 days after closing, another sign of weakness for giving the buyer time without asking for something in return. By this time, the buyer must be smelling blood.
About two weeks after closing: buyer warns June 26 is the earliest she could close. Again, I don't make any counter offers.
June 23: buyer warns June 27 is the earliest she could close. Again, I make no counter offers.
June 26: buyer warns June 29 is the earliest closing date. Buyer also requests credit because she says the AC does not force cold air and wants the AC unit replaced ($2500 to $3000 conservative estimates). Again, there is nothing wrong with the AC. I can turn it down to 65 and it gets reallll cooollld.
This is where we stand now.
I think it's my turn to start leveraging my strength. I will counter offer to the buyer that we will not replace the AC and I will demand $2500 from the buyer for loses incurred for missing the closing date, and I will warn the buyer that she is in breech of contract for missing the closing date of June 1.
Of course during all these negotiations, I don't actually talk to the buyer directly, I talk to my lawyer who talks to her lawyer who talks to her, or she talks to her real estate agent who talks to my real estate agent who talks to Thasha, who talks to me.
on a more smiley note...
In order to ride a train from where I live to the phl airport, I have to
- drive to the hamilton station to park.
- take a NJ Transit train to Trenton,
- transfer to amtrak or septa, ride to 30th street station.
- transfer to the airport rail and ride it to the terminal.
problems with this:
- amtrak is fast but only comes at certain times
- nj transit only comes once per hour on weekends.
- septa between trenton and 30th street has about 10 stops in between
- too many transfers. I'd be waiting at stations for hours and risk missing transfers.
- too many tickets which cost too much money. its cheaper to park at the airport for $9 a day.
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