Yes, there is always a ‘why‘ behind everyone’s behavior.   

In the heat of negotiations, this is important to remember.

I’m representing two separate buyers with offers today; one is hoping to build their retirement home in Pittsgrove, the other is attempting to secure a bank-owned foreclosure to renovate & flip. In both cases, a ‘due diligence’ period was requested as part of the offer. A due diligence is an extremely common inclusion for ‘As Is’ agreements. After all, people work hard for their money and want (and need) protection before purchasing property. Having a reasonable period of time to hold inspections, apply for permits, secure certifications, etc. is not out-of-the-ordinary, at all, before spending one’s money on real property.

In both cases, the properties have been on the active Real Estate market for very, very long times. The lot has been on the market for over 1,000 days. That seller will allow a 30-day due diligence, but that is not long enough for the buyer to secure the necessary permits to build. It’s a long convoluted story that involves a seller who incorrectly advertised having approved septic designs. The problem is that those plans were dated for 2003 and now need to be updated at a cost of approximately $800-$1,000. The engineer who can do this work is back-logged by approximately 4-6 weeks. Our request for the much-needed 45-60 day due diligence time-frame was refused.

So, after 1,000+ days-on-market, the seller is refusing to wait an additional 15-35 days for the buyer to obtain the necessary permits to build?? The seller is basically denying the buyer her protection before she plunks down tens of thousands of dollars. The listing agent actually said to me, “That in the scheme of things, $40,000 is a very small amount of money.”

My buyer doesn’t feel that her $40,000 is a ‘very small amount of money’ and certainly doesn’t intend to gamble with it. We have made one more attempt to have the offer accepted and if the 45-60 days for inspections is not granted, we’ll have no choice but to move on.

The question that we cannot get an answer to is, “WHY is the seller so unwilling to grant a proper due diligence of 45-60 days when they have waited 1,000+ days to find a ready, willing & able buyer?” It is illogical.

In the second offer, a 21-day due diligence was requested. This particular listing has been on the market 254 days, has been under contract 3 times only to be changed back to active each time and has had it’s price reduced from $160,000 to $65,000. In other words, the listing experience has not been easy for this seller. When presented with this new offer, the seller is denying the right for my buyer to hold a due diligence, at all. This particular seller will allow -0- days for inspections. For all intents and purposes, they are saying ‘take it or leave it’. They are actually expecting a buyer to purchase an unoccupied home with no utilities on — with a well & septic — with zero inspections. It’s just maddening!

Once again, the question is: “Why?”

It’s frustrating to think that we will most likely never get the answers to our questions. Both buyers are making very fair requests and very good offers…..full list price on one, just about full list on the other.

There IS always a reason why a seller responds to an offer the way that they do……often times we never know what that reason truly is.

There is also always a reason why a buyer decides to withdraw from negotiations and move on…..they don’t feel safe. 

“Negotiation is about knowing what you want, going after it, and respecting the other person in the process. Remember that the whole point of negotiating is compromise. This means that you need to look out for yourself, but also be willing to budge in order to satisfy both parties. As mentioned in some of the quotes above, negotiating is to build professional relationships rather than burning bridges on your way out of the conference room.”  ~The American Genius