We’ve all heard of “armchair quarterbacks”, but what about armchair agents? I’ve been involved in real estate since August 1987 when I started as an apprentice real estate appraiser. Worked for five years as an appraiser toward the MAI professional designation before being recruited by a large development company which lead to my own development firm, brokerage and so on and so on. That’s a simple way of saying that I’ve got a little bit of experience in real estate.
Now and then I have clients come to town looking to purchase that have very little experience in in this business, but they have a friend or distant relative who is an expert. Very often I spend a good deal of time undoing the damage done by these well-intentioned or sometimes prideful friends and family. These friends give advice that is often irrelevant, out of date, or simply wrong, and it is then up to me to talk these clients back from the edge. Its almost like when you fall ill and try self-diagnosing by going to the Internet: everything leads to cancer. My suggestion to anyone coming to town is “Please let me take care of you. I have the experience and an impeccable track record of doing so for others.”
Its not too unlike dealing with something called buyer’s remorse. I see this just as often. A buyer client has spent time with me researching and visiting properties. The buyer settles on the perfect prepper property and makes the offer. After some back and forth, the offer is accepted. Earnest money is deposited and the process of Due Diligence begins. But three days later, the client wakes up in the morning as if hung over from the euphoria and asks “What have I just done?!” Then comes the call that goes something like this: “John, Suzie and I have been thinking about it some more…….We really love the property, but just don’t know if its right for us after all.” Sometimes, it is very well reasoned and perhaps they should terminate their agreement. But very often its a case of the jitters, not unlike cold feet before a wedding. They forget the reason they were here in the first place.
If during their tour they indicated financial capability and sincere desire, and expressed their desires very clearly, then after talking it over, they usually come back to the table and get excited all over again. What I’m saying is that if you experience buyer’s remorse, understand that its very normal. I suggest stepping back for a few days (after all, the due diligence period is usually at least 30 days), take some breaths and sleep on it some more. If the uneasy feeling is still there after a week, then perhaps its best to walk away. If not, then commit to following through and look forward in anticipation to the day you get the keys to that ideal cabin or retreat property here in the mountains of western North Carolina.
