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The following is a rough transcript provided by Otter.ai.
0:01
I can see my buyer deflating. Wow. Welcome to Mary. You’re gonna have to do after you do that I understand any like hidden passageways any evidence of
0:18
somebody being living there.
0:21
What I’m like very confused like, Are you blind? Not with me.
0:28
Oh my word. Wow. Well, let’s end on that.
0:36
Hi, y’all welcome to hustle humbly. It’s Alyssa and Katie. And we are two top producing realtors in the Baton Rouge market.
0:42
We work for two different companies where we should be competitors. But we have chosen community over competition.
0:47
The goal of our podcasts is to encourage you to find your own way in business to stop comparing
0:51
yourself and start embracing your strengths. Hi, Alyssa. Hi, Katie. How are you today? Fine. We are giggly right now.
1:01
Which is not good because we’re kind of doing a somber top. That’s true.
1:04
So this is episode 193. handling difficult deals. And I’ve made a second title called. When it’s over, it’s over. Oh, but you’ll understand why in a minute, not about the first two things. But about the last thing regardless, we need a little giggle on the front end because it is going to get a bit serious, right. And of course, we’re going to handle this delicately. Even though we have the giggles. In real estate. There are lots of transactions that you come across that aren’t just happy and puppies and rainbows and roses and people are selling or buying for maybe unpleasant circumstances. Sure. Okay. So how do we handle difficult deals?
1:48
Should I read the yeah, why don’t you read what sparked this up? Okay. So
1:52
we kind of kind of take this in a couple of directions while we’re in the show. But Sarah, a listener sent us this request. And this is what she said. How do you handle difficult deals, had a cash buyer come to closing $16,000 short. When your buyers buy home, they soon realized has a lot of problems and have to put a lot of money into it and hate it. This has happened for my last two transactions, anxiety and guilt when a buyer cancels a contract even worse without proper calls and their escrow deposit is then jeopardize dealing with that this week. She was having a rough go. Yeah. So Sarah, thank you for the request. Because a lots of transactions are difficult. And for all different sorts of reasons. So
2:37
what I appreciated about her message is because when I was new, I found that so often when I was doing my one month after closing check in or two months, they were often had something negative to say right? Even if it wasn’t all negative, like oh my gosh, we love the house. Yeah, we did have to get a new AC but other than that it’s going and I just always had trouble hearing than the negative thing. Did you internalize that? I think so too.
3:07
And I’m like, oh, no, I hope they’re battling me blame me for this, right. And so I got to the point where I was nervous sometimes to check in and see how things were going. Like I didn’t want to know, don’t tell me it’s better
3:20
if we don’t know. Yeah. And so I went through a few
3:23
years didn’t ask,
3:26
you develop kind of like you just develop a thicker skin over time. I’m still feel bad for my client, if something bad happens after they buy a house or even if they sell a house and regret it like I still feel bad. I still sympathize and empathize with them. But I think I’m less afraid. And maybe I understand now the steps to take when they start down that path. Instead of being like, oh my god, what are we going to do? How am I gonna fix this? Well, you can’t fix it. No, it’s already happened. You can assist in what they’re going through. Like I have clients right now that are dealing with a house that’s only three years old that they bought through me. And it has this big, you know, stucco issue with the leaking wall and they’re having to rebuild the whole front of their house. And so I was like, well, here’s a water you know remediation person. Here’s maybe someone you can check in with to find out about your home warranty like your your new home warranty add like, here’s the title. here’s actually a real estate attorney if you need that, like so. Just give them you know what you can as far as support, but you can’t fix. You can’t fix that stuff. And it’s not your fault. It’s not your fault. That no house is perfect. And if you listen to the episode two ago, where we go through the due diligence period, you you want to set them up during your transaction to understand the house isn’t perfect now, it’s not going to be perfect forever. There are going to be problems being a homeowner comes with great reward comes great responsibilities. Yeah, right if you’re going to be a home Moner like these things are gonna happen. But you can have empathy and listen and try to help them, you know, go in the right direction to fix. But you can’t internalize that. Right.
5:10
And I think you made a good point that setting the expectations the right way. Yeah. And understanding how to deal with things. Because I do think people’s first thing is to point the finger of the previous owner knew this like, right? Oh, I mean, they likely didn’t, depending on what it
5:28
is. And a lot of times, I have to point out to them the rules of engagement. Okay, fine. Let’s say they did no, this is what happens. Now. You have to sue them for fraud. Right, then you have to prove that they knew, which isn’t exactly an easy thing to do, you know? Yeah. It might seem like they knew or you’re going to be like, ah, obviously, they knew how would you not know, you’d have to have proof that they knew. So it really is kind of, like a hey, I under and we have as as transactions that that’s almost all of our transactions here. When you buy at closing, you’re taking the property as is there’s no going back to the seller in a year or two years or three years. But that was the law before you had three years. Remember? That’s insane. Three years to be like, Hey, take this back. It’s broken. This one’s broken. Right? I don’t want it anymore. No. So I think it’s important for your buyers to understand during the transaction, that that’s the case. And then you’ll have less of these feelings afterwards, where they’re like, What do you mean, I can’t get the seller to fix the AC we just moved in a week ago. Like that’s not that’s not how any of this works. And that’s why we take the inspection periods. So seriously. That’s why we take the walkthrough so seriously, right have to be there. We have to do those things. Because after closing,
6:48
that’s it. That’s it.
6:51
Okay, can you tell us what would you consider a difficult deal just generally off the top of your head if you were picking difficult deals?
7:00
I have found successions can be tricky if the heirs are not all in agreement, right? I’m selling the family home. Yeah, it’s always really hard. And I always because my parents live in the house that they built before I was born. So every time I am meeting someone, I have this like, future vision of one day, I might have to sell the family home and I see myself in their position, right?
7:27
Or like even your grandmother’s home.
7:29
I know, right? Yeah. I mean, she lives right next door, like our little,
7:33
you know, Drew like baling car, it is right, so, tepee,
7:38
and then just dealing with the situations that people are in if it’s a negative situation as to why they are selling, right financial reason, they can no longer afford their house or they’ve lost a job or lost a job. I mean, you know, divorce, there’s just so many they even just like,
7:59
one of the spouses has passed away, not even like, right, a full on secession, its children or someone has inherited it. But what if only one person has passed away, and the other can’t stay there anymore? Right? Either they can’t take care of the house, they can’t afford it, whatever the case, may be, you really have to handle those transactions differently and delicately. Right. It’s all the DS you know, for your for your deaths and your divorce. You need to be, you know, delicate, right? You know, really listen,
8:29
and as much as we would love to have content for Instagram and make these really pretty posts. Sometimes it’s just no, not the situation for that.
8:38
Right, like, you know, we have to respect what’s going on in their life. Right? You know, yes, you got paid, but that might have to be it. Right. Like we’re not we’re not looking to celebrate number three transaction for this month. Yeah. No. Whoo hoo. I did make a quick list of tips for handling difficult or delicate emotional transactions, like a death or divorce. Would you like to hear them? Yeah. Okay. Number one. Remember to listen, just listen. When you’re dealing with people who are emotional, they need to talk it out. They need someone to hear them they need to say maybe things that are illogical but are emotionally based. And you just listen, we don’t we don’t need to do anything but that number to have empathy. So picture like you are Yeah, through yourself on that path. Like what? How would you feel what would you want your agent to do? Like, what would you need from someone as in Remember, you’re a professional. We don’t have to make them happy. Better. Sometimes in these cases, no matter what you do, they’re upset, right? You can’t do anything right. It feels like it’s not about you. Right? They’re having a whole nother situation going on. Number three, communicate delicately. So be mindful of how you deliver messages. Like if you’re sending a repair request with 1000 things on it to the house of their mother who’s just passed away and they love the house and they grew up there, and nothing is wrong with it in their eyes, you gotta frame this delivery of this message somehow, right? Like, maybe you don’t just send it straight up, maybe you want to call and have a talk and, you know, ease them into it, you’re gonna have to do a lot of easing into things. Yeah, you know, to make sure they’re okay. This one is for divorce. And honestly, for secession number four is speak to all parties equally, you cannot pick a will if the wife hired you, not the husband, two people are selling that house, if two people are selling that house, you better give every single message to two people. And my other tip on this is, don’t do it in a group text. Sometimes, in a in a divorce, it’s not going so well. They don’t want to be communicating with each other together. They don’t want to be communicating together. So you gotta send a cut and paste of the same thing both ways, right? Both emails, both texts, whatever you’re doing together, but separate two people get the phone call. Two people are making that if two people had to sign your listing documents, two people need all of the communication, right? Remember, and I’ve lost many listing where one party wanted to hire me, but the other did not. And they just put their foot down and they had to hire the other party’s agent, you will lose deals. Because in a divorce, someone’s going to say I want my agent, right? Maybe sometimes that’s you.
11:28
I even have a good situation right now where that’s happening because I sold this young guy, his first house. And he’s lived there for three years. And he called me and was like, Hey, I’m getting married. I need your help listing it. So I sent him all my stuff. And we were discussing, and I checked in with him. I was like, Hey, let me know when you’re ready for a walkthrough? And he said, Well, I’m like, so sorry to tell you this. But my fiance had already called her realtor, right? And that’s she, she wants to use her and I’m like, welcome to Mary. You’re gonna have to do that. I understand. Okay, mind, but yeah, I just thought it was funny
12:05
that I mean, so it’s true. Like, there’s two parties, someone’s making the choice. If you are the agent who got that listing, but weren’t the one that the other party wanted? You need to treat them very well. Right? Because they already don’t trust you. If they don’t trust their spouse, like if something like that is going on. They don’t trust you. They don’t want to hear it from you.
12:27
I’ve been in situations where it was a divorce situation, and the wife still occupied the home and the husband had moved out. They were in dispute about what agent to use. And the wife said we can per our divorce attorney, you have four months. And if it doesn’t sell in four months, okay, we will switch to his realtor. Wow. I said okay, pressure, right. And I luckily it worked out but it just made me realize like, okay, yeah, yeah, and I did I tried to really, I’ve always said no matter what if I have a listing that expires or gets withdrawn, my goal is always to treat them in a way that when they have the next realtor, they miss me. That’s a good that’s a good goal. Like even if I didn’t sell the house, at least now you realize that did a good job. I did a good job. I was communicating with you. I was transparent. So that was my goal. Okay, I like that more though, than to sell the house right was just to do the best I could do the good job.
13:32
Okay, I have one more on handling these. Be aware and this really goes with communication, be aware of who is legally in charge of this sale. And that is who you should be. So in a secession many times, what are their 2356 siblings? There is someone who is typically in charge, right? And is able to sign a loan. If it’s not and you have to get six signatures, then you got to talk to six people. But a lot of times there’s a person who’s in charge, right. So I have a story for you. Okay, I did a listing last year. Very, very nice family. It was actually a past client who had moved away well, it was a referral ish. She was one of the siblings, but she was still far away. And there was a sibling locally is the parent the mother’s home the mother passed away. The sibling in charge was the executor of the will so they were the buck stops here like we signed. But there were several two sisters here and the one that I had worked with was away when I went to do the the first walkthrough the pre listing the two sisters were there along with the brother who was handling the deal. They all had you know things to tell me I wrote it all down I addressed them all I you know look them all on the hour. You listen to their opinion, you take it all in and then you know they go on their way we may decisions to do some renovations, okay? Because it was going to make them way more money if they just put the money in to renovate and then sell it. And they had the money to do that in the estate. They all it’s gonna feel in these situations like there are a lot of chiefs, right? Like so many cooks in the kitchen. Yeah, they all want their say they all equally own it, but only one person legally has to sign. Well, they all knew who I was and how to find me. Oh, yes, that’s right. They would contact me by text by email by phone, any of it could be any one of them at any moment and be like, hey, I really don’t love that shutter color. Like, okay, well, we’ve all agreed to this. And we’re just going to keep on rolling. Right? Right. Our I would get a text from one the day we listed When will you be doing the first open house. Although in the listing, I’ve already talked with the main party and been like, we’re not doing that. And this is why or this is when we would, but now I’m having to re you know, re relay that information. Basically, I’m having to re sell myself and my system to another party. Even though I already have the listing. I could have just been like, delete, ignore, I don’t want to talk to you. I tried to just be respectful and respond as best I could. And they were fine. And it sold and everything went well. But they’re not easy transactions. No, there’s more pieces and parts and people with opinions. And you have to just navigate it.
16:26
I had a succession situation, it was the family home, and it was three siblings. And one of them felt like she was owed more. Why? Because she did so much for the parents towards the end with appointments and things like that. She kind of felt like, yeah, she was more available. Right. And in some ways, it didn’t necessarily make her a better person. It’s just that she was the only one that did not work. Right. So she was available, whereas the other two had very strict jobs and did what they could it wasn’t that they loved the parents less. Okay. Okay. And this house was like $900,000, it was a big house. And at the closing after like, whatever the final number was divided by three, there was an extra penny. Did she get the penny? They actually had a discussion about it about the panning about it. Yes. But because she should get it because she she should get the bigger share, because she did the most. Wow. And I just sat there going, wow. And it’s really funny because I follow like this toddler page, about like, you know, just communicating with toddlers, and how the toddler melted down because they asked for a banana and the mom peeled the banana and gave it and the toddler like had a complete meltdown. Right? Because they wanted to peel the banana. This is and the whole point that she made was it was never about the banana. Right. It’s about the toddler’s perception, and they want to be able to have some independence and right, same situation. It wasn’t about the penny. But to her.
18:13
She needed them to say you can have this penny, right, you did do more.
18:17
Right? She wanted that acknowledgement. And when I tell you, it was not just a quick discussion, like the title attorney was like, I’m gonna be right back. And when I come back, we’ll see you know, where y’all have made it in this discussion? And yeah, so they ultimately she got the penny, which it wasn’t about the penny, but just goes to show.
18:39
She she needed that Penny she gets I guess so. All right, that makes perfect. You win. Right? You got it. You won. Okay, we’ve acknowledged. Do you have any other good? dang good. Any other stories that would apply because these are not necessarily good stories. I actually
18:57
when we were when I was preparing for this episode, I felt like I had more stories than information, right? One of my first I was on phone duty. And this was in my early years of real estate and I got a call from this guy. I didn’t really like him. He wasn’t very nice to me. Right. And he wanted to see this house and I was like, okay, you know, so I show him the house and he tells me that he’s buying because he’s getting a divorce. So I’m like, Okay, I still don’t think you have to be rude. But I’m sorry that you’re going through that something. So I helped him buy. And then he surprised me at the closing table because I didn’t know him that well, right, just through this one transaction. I didn’t know him before. And at the closing table, he said, Well, I guess I need you to come look at our house. Since you know that one will have to be sold to because my ex wife is moving somewhere else. So I was like, oh, okay, so he bought and then I sold the house that they lived in. Okay, and then I met the wife a few times when they were exchanging children. Sometimes she came straight to the house we were at, and they did the exchange. So I met her, and then she was kind. And then she called me to buy. Wow, that was very interesting, very, very interesting. They co parented, well, together, they still had a good, they had such a good relationship, that they got back together. I could feel this. Feel this guy had such a good relationship that they got back together. Okay. So at this point, I’ve had three real estate transactions, okay. When they both bought and I sold them,
20:33
you didn’t have to sell their individual homes for them to get back together. I did.
20:37
So then I sold their individual homes and they bought one together again. Wow. Okay. And then, few years
20:44
later, it didn’t work out didn’t work out. Dang it.
20:47
So she stayed in the home, I sold, okay. And he bought a new one. Oh, my. And then two years later, I sold that one. And she bought it now they’re independent. But just so you know, because I’ve been tallying this. That’s 123456789 transactions. This week, tumultuous? I think
21:07
they could have avoided quite a few of them with some therapy. Yeah. Now I
21:11
will say in all of my pride, they came
21:16
out well on all of them. Okay. They All right, great. It was a
21:18
good real estate. I actually think financially things were fine. They came out ahead. They made money on they were not I say we’re never really unhappy with the real estate. They were always in a bad mood. Well, they weren’t. They weren’t in a bad mood that the time the middle times. Yeah, that we bought together. But yes, the other times it was like, Okay, well, things aren’t going well. Are they
21:40
embarrassed to reach out to you the last time when they were like they’re like, guess what? Yeah. Didn’t work. Right. Dang it. I know. That’s crazy.
21:50
I think we had like a, I kind of called him on his bluff. He was kind of dry and sarcastic, which I don’t mind at all. And so I was kind of dry and sarcastic back. So I think he had no shame to call me and be like, I know, you’re not going to be surprised. But like, we just had a good. We all had a relationship. And then he was like, she’s gonna call you later to tell you what she needs. All right. Okay. Well, I’m here. I’m sorry. Oh, my gosh, I know. But that. Yeah, they’re both pretty settled now. So I think it’s over. It’s been a few years. Okay. I’ve heard right.
22:23
I’m glad I guess that at work. They’re happy now. Yeah. Okay. I have a story. Okay. So when we were preparing for this episode, we didn’t want to just spend the whole time talking about sad, terrible things, or reasons why you’re having a difficult deal. But we also needed to talk about some things that happen when you buy just like Sarah’s message, and the buyers are not happy, right? Things come up things don’t go well into the end of the transaction goes very poorly. But I have a specific story that that plays into when it’s over. It’s over as the title and when I when I mean when I say when it’s over, it’s over is that when the transaction closes this is done right? You own the house? There’s no going back. It’s over. I had a listing I’m gonna try make this as brief as I can. I feel like I may have told parts of the story before I had a listing it was actually my sister in law at the time, not my sister law anymore but anyway, we she’s selling her house okay, she’s she’s moving. She listed gets a buyer everything’s great. It’s an RD loan.
23:29
The buyers getting an RD loans and you have her house listed. Correct.
23:33
rd means rural development. It’s 100% loan at that time years ago. They were taking a very long time. Yes, I remember it could be months, right during on how far behind that office was okay. Well, I you know, in the shuffle of things are in just the eight the buyer’s agents negligence, they never told us where they were at with RD. My seller packed it all up. She her apartment wasn’t going to be ready for two weeks. So she has to pack her things, put them into storage. Go live with a friend to be out for closing. Two days before closing the solicitors obviously pre trade, right. Today’s foreclosing the agent. i The agent doesn’t reach out to me, I reach out to the agent and I say Hey, What are y’all gonna do that final walkthrough? She’s actually out already. And they’re like, oh, no, we’re gonna have to do an extension. You know, the file just went to rd and I went, Oh,
24:32
wait, hold, just went. Let’s just say
24:35
for the sake of argument, rd was like 20 days behind. I’m like, Well, that means we’re at least three to four weeks out of closing. So you knew this and you knew Oh, but you didn’t tell me and she was like, Yeah, what about you know, whatever, we need the extension. She didn’t care. And I was like, oh my and I’m like here’s the problem. We during the repair during the inspection we had negotiated $500 towards repairs, okay? And I said, Listen, my seller has bought, you know, moved, had to pay for storage is living on the couch, friend, and would have been ecstatic to give you a three or four week extension because it would have worked out timing wise only move once live in your house until you go to your next place, Cara. I said, when she needs to be compensated, right, I don’t have to sign this extension. She needs to be compensated, right. So I said, why don’t we just watch this $500 in repairs, you don’t get your $500 It’s basically like she’s keeping $500 to pay for her second move. All as well. Agent says okay, fine. This is where I made a mistake. I sent over in the same email, the extension signed by my seller and the addendum showing we removed the repairs. And in my I will admit negligence when she sent back the signed extension. I just didn’t even realize they didn’t sign the addendum intentionally.
26:09
Right. She was like, Oh, look, they already signed the extension. She was very dirty, edgy
26:15
and dirty and fraught bait. I mean, like she said to me, yeah, alright, fine. We’ll do that. Just you know, whatever, and then chose not to the bait and not sign. Okay. Well, here’s where the story is very much filled with karma. At closing, the agent did not attend, nor did she send a representative canned clearly did not check the settlement statement prior to closing. Okay. On the settlement statement, the $500 were not for repairs were not reflected. Wow, that was correct. In accordance to what we agreed to. Right. And I said, Okay, fine. Yeah, you’re like, here’s the email. Great, where we problem yeah, we sign DUNS done, the buyers there, they sign everything’s done. Okay. And then an RD I think, a lot like an FHA, there’s a document that says have all the terms of the purchase agreement and that right, and everyone signs beyond the fact that the closing is the end, and it’s over. It’s over, right? Not within an hour of closing, the agent is texting me, Hey, where’s that $500 for repairs? And I’m like, What do you mean, we agreed to let that go because my seller had to move out prematurely. And we agreed that would be the way we would compensate her. And she said, We never sign that addendum I said, Well, you said you were gonna sign the addendum. And nobody was at closing. And nobody, nobody said anything at closing and DUNS done. Right. And she texted me for two full days in a her very harassing manner saying she’s going to sue me do it. Her client needed the money. We agreed to this. It was in writing. But the funny thing to me was use you tried to trick me? Mm hmm. And karma got you. Right, because you didn’t show up to closing and look at that settlement statement. Now, I don’t even want to think about how difficult that closing would have been. If she had showed, said we want it. We never signed that. And then we had to like, fight back and forth. Because at the end of the day, I had to eat that. Because I didn’t have the sign addendum, they didn’t sign the agenda. Right. Right. But she was in there. That is very at the end of the end. Mm hmm. And I checked with the title attorney too. And they were like, nope, the ends the end, right? They can’t come back. They said that they were that’s fine. They signed. And the buyer was probably a first time buyer or someone who wasn’t Wait, like didn’t think you don’t get money outside of closing, right? And they were like, call their agent after where’s our $500. And she’s like, Oh, let me get that for you about
28:48
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29:02
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29:13
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29:16
Have you had any other like walkthrough issues? Or? I mean, I know there are some are closing issues where you were having a difficult transaction and maybe you got to the walkthrough and y’all had to come up with some creative way to get to closing I mean, surely.
29:31
Yeah, I mean, there’s so many I had an agent not do a walkthrough. I had the listing and in the MLS description I had written washer and dryer can remain at buyers requests. Oh, yeah. They were very old. I didn’t really think anybody would want them. So sure enough, we got a purchase agreement and it was not on the purchase agreement. So when my sellers were moving out, they were like, Hey, why What do we do with our washer dryer? We like tried to sell them on Facebook, nobody wants to nobody wants to dazzle. Yes. And I said, well, the buyers don’t want them. So we just we do have to remove them because if they are bringing their own, they don’t want to have to like okay, so they put them at the street. So we went to closing and an hour after closing I get a frantic call from the agent where is the washer and dryer? And I screenshotted her the I said you never asked for the washer and dryer. You said it was staying. I said it could stay if the buyer wanted it but you did not ask for it. It has to be in the contract. Right? She had to buy her buyers a washer and dryer for the record the
30:49
ones that there were literal garbage. Yeah,
30:51
like they couldn’t sell them for $200 and she had to spend like $600 of her own money wild. Yeah, yeah. I mean, so many situations people just take things they don’t know or they do know and take them anyway. I mean it’s just there’s so many things that could have yeah,
31:11
I’ve had to eat commission at closing when just like Sarah said where she had a buyer come in short without money
31:17
why I’ve never had that have you not ever Would you
31:21
Would you’ve never had someone not have the money I’ve actually never y’all it for people who may be now in this environment are starting to see it be a little it’s not even anything like it but I was here during like the crash. And there were a lot of short sales and a lot of foreclosures and a lot of people who maybe weren’t even doing a short sale but would not would be upside down on what they owed. Okay, right. And they the seller wouldn’t even realize they were going to have to come to closing with $3,000 or $4,000 or 16,000 Like she’s talking about a buyer that makes sense but a seller who then found out the day before closing you need $3,000 Y’all it’s paying the commission their loan was going to be made that was going to be paid off right I had I mean there’s been a time or two where I was just like take it out of mine that’s the only way to do it or you don’t close or like you can
32:17
not know that they did that they needed to bring money Alyssa
32:21
because their agent never did a net sheet with them never told them what to expect never had them you know get with the title company on their numbers before closing I don’t think that eight new agents are realize the wondrous power of that three day TRID
32:39
law it was so bad before it was here. It was like the Wild West it was horrendous I hated clothes you could
32:47
be at the in the parking lot at closing and they’d be like you can go it’s not gonna happen I can happen
32:52
today you could be on stage it was maybe tomorrow
32:55
you know how you say you’re not an emergency room doctor back in those days had to be on call like maybe we’ll close maybe we won’t like we got the package can you be here in 20 minutes? I never title office employees we’re constantly sweating and running around like like crazy people because exactly that the package shows up 10 minutes before closing we can do this. We’ll make it happen right now. It’s like you don’t make the three day cut off. You don’t That’s it? You can’t close. So those are those are wild ones. Did you have an an attic story? Was this a death in an attic?
33:34
I had a situation where it was a foreclosure. And my buyer was purchasing it. And the while we were there for the home inspection, the neighbor came over and explained that the person that lived here before was hauled off to a men’s mental institution. Okay, because she swore someone lived in the attic and that there was noises and I can see my buyer like deflating. Wow. So I go to the home inspector I’m like I really need you to check the attic like hard, hard any like hidden passageways, any evidence of a person living there. So um, ultimately my buyer decided to buy the house as a joke but we really not as a joke. We at the final walkthrough I surprised him and I brought a priest and we had the home bless Okay, okay, it was a I did it like laughing but at the same time just really need it.
34:49
We don’t we don’t know who’s in the attic.
34:51
It was very interesting. And so then week, the week of him living there the first time it’s like technical like at night and I get this text and it’s like a recording. Like, you hear these noises?
35:10
Well, the blessing didn’t work.
35:13
They don’t work out squirrels. He could come and go.
35:19
So whenever people would go, nothing would be there. Right. Right. Oh my word. So yeah, I mean, that one was special. Yeah. Okay, let’s do a list of things you can’t do after closing. Oh, okay. And here’s, here’s how I feel like this relates to the difficult deals. You know, if you’re dealing with a difficult seller, or buyer or someone who’s maybe not so nice, good news, when it’s over, it’s over. You don’t have to be friends anymore. Right?
35:43
So here is not everybody needs to go on your database. If it was a client that you did not jive well with, they were rude, condescending, whatever to needy didn’t match with you. Don’t put them on your database, because you don’t have to follow up with them anymore.
35:59
Don’t, don’t follow up with them anymore. We talked about this in the course. Because if you put them on there, or you have people like that on your database, it will cause you to not want to work with like to not get in your database and contact people, you’ll be like, Oh, I don’t want to because I’m avoiding those people. Just don’t put those people on there. Right? Only put people you actually want to talk to. Okay, so here’s some things you can’t do after closing in case anyone needs a reminder, check repairs, or get receipts for repairs too late. You got to do a walkthrough and maybe one day, we’ll do a whole walkthrough episode. But you got to do a walkthrough. You got to have this stuff before. You can’t do an additional inspection. After closing. The ship has sailed, right? You can’t do that. You can’t ask for monies after closing you can’t realize you didn’t get some type of it’s too late if the closing costs weren’t on the settlement statement on the CD and you didn’t see it too bad, right? It’s done is done. I had that happen to
36:59
like the closing costs weren’t there. It was a it was actually
37:02
the Commission, the one and only actual lease purchase that I did from beginning to end where I put my buyer into a lease purchase. A put the way it was worked out was a portion of the real estate because it was listed by an agent. Basically the port a portion of the Commission’s were paid up front, they had a two year lease period. And then they had to buy and then a portion of Commission’s were going to be paid at closing. Well, I guess the way the listing agent had talked to their seller, they hadn’t made it very clear. And they also did not show up to closing. So here’s a you gotta go to closing and you got to check your settlement statements. He was calling me after closing like, hey, the seller didn’t realize that they had this much commission left to pay. And it only went on your side. And he thought he was paying both of us and I’m like, but it was the right amount like it was the MLS agreed upon amount. So I got the amount you got paid paid, that you didn’t get paid is kind of between you and your seller, right? Because that’s not how it was on the settlement statement. That’s not how it was in the MLS and I, I didn’t get extra paid. I just got paid. The seller just was like that’s all I owe. Right. And the agent tried to convince me to give him back part of the commission. And I was like, he’s like, I got kids, you know, I’m like, yep, same here. So I’m gonna just hang on to this, right, because I did the work because
38:26
something happened on the listing side where mistake was made. Right?
38:31
Right. But I like Oh, my word. So you can’t get money after closing. I will say, if you’re having a walkthrough issue, like let’s just say it’s pretty small. I have one that wasn’t very small, but we handled it. The pool is part of the sale. It’s a pool in the backyard. It’s a great pool. When we looked at the house blue when we did the inspection blue when we went to the walkthrough, green. Okay, pool is no longer swimmable. It looks like a lagoon where like, I don’t know what’s happening here. Seller shows up to the, actually, the agent then shows up to the walkthrough. And it’s like, I don’t know, it’s fine. Everything’s fine. The seller fixed a piece, it’ll be blue in two days. I’m like, but it’s not blue now, right? You didn’t tell us you had to fix something. And it’s closing in, like, just a few hours. And so my buyer isn’t comfortable buying a house, he’s not sure if the pool works, right? You know, so what are we going to do you want to get an inspector over here to look at it. Basically, a very angry seller, not my client. The other one was like, you know, we agreed to get a pool guy over and look at and it was gonna be $250 for him to do what he needed to do. And he, he basically guaranteed it would be working again. So I’m like, we need to enter $50 and the seller was like, I don’t want to give you two NFTL or something you’re gonna have to and then the agent was like, he doesn’t have to, and I’m like, well, then you give me $250 And he was like, Well, I don’t want to have my thing. Get your salary to do it. Right? Because someone’s going to make the pool right. You have to. I said that he said The contract doesn’t say anything about the water in the pool. He like he tried to make it sound like it, the water in the pool didn’t have to same or better condition. That’s what I said, here are the lines where it says the house has to be in the same or better condition. The pool was blue. Now it’s green. That’s not the same or better condition. Finally, the seller agreed to it. He was so awful in the closing that the tight the very kind title attorney like hurried him through and kicked him out. Wow. Because he was like, This is unacceptable. Like his behavior was so bad. Okay, but those are things you can’t do after closing.
40:37
Also, if you listen to two episodes ago, where I talked about, I had the listing and after closing, the buyers found termites, the buyer’s agent called me and wanted me to fix the problem. It was his job at that time to explain to the buyer that the seller and the sellers agent did nothing wrong here, right? This was a hidden thing that nobody would have seen otherwise, right? There’s no fraud. So we have absolutely nothing to call the sellers about right if if if the roles have been reversed. And this would have happened to my buyer, I never would have called the listing agent because there’s nothing to be done. There’s nothing to say it just makes you look silly. Like you don’t understand how it works, how it works. That’s not how it works. So there are just things that once you sign it is what it is.
41:33
I know. I have one last story about this. Okay, I had the sweetest retired couple, that we’re moving here to be close to a grandchild. And the they had a home where they were coming from that was actually under contract. So they had gotten it under contract after we found a house two houses are under contract, the one they’re buying the one they’re selling, things are going well, on both ends the day before our inspection, the spouse passes away. Okay, Mike, my clients. So we cancelled the inspection, we cancelled the purchase, we’re like, you know, we can’t move forward, obviously, you know, we have to she had to deal with the death on the other end. Well, we had a deposit, but we were within our inspection periods. So whether we had an inspection or not, we could have cancelled, it’s fine. Regularly, we were fine. The seller of the house that we were buying did not want to give the deposit back. I’m like, Well, that just makes you look really bad. This poor person has lost her spouse. Unexpectedly, obviously. Yeah. And you want to hang on to her, you know, a couple 1000.
42:53
Like it’s the day before closing? No, this is still very early on within your right, you have a contractual right.
43:00
And the agent, who obviously was dealing dealing with that difficult seller was like, I’m very sorry, I can’t believe he’s even saying this, I will, we will figure it out. And then we did get the deposit back. But the other part of this that I wanted to share is that my client, she still had to sell her house, because it was under contract. And the seller doesn’t have an out. Unless, I mean, like she couldn’t get out of the deal. She had to sell it. So she sold the house went lived with a friend and then eventually did come here to buy in the in We shopped for a different kind of house because it was only going to be her and you know, things have changed. And those were hard showings. She was very emotional. We spent, you know, an hour in a house while she cried with her daughters. And we looked at that, like it was emotionally draining. She’s one of my dearest clients, and I love her very much, but you just don’t know, right? Even when things are going great, and everything’s wonderful, bad things can happen mid transaction, and you have to like figure out how to deal with those things. It’s just, I mean, it can be really hard, right? Because people are so emotional about these types of things. And on top of that, trying to move. So I think that you know, everyone probably has a story like that. Have
44:20
you had a client that expressed their displeasure with working with you?
44:26
Oh, yeah, for sure. Or right like I don’t want you to do this anymore. I’m like we’re under contract. So we
44:36
are here now.
44:37
Right? Like, we don’t want to talk maybe I don’t want to talk to you. I had
44:40
a seller that I did not realize they were going through divorce. They didn’t tell me. They didn’t tell me that’s what was happening. Okay. They were still living there. He was a way a lot for work. I did not realize they were getting they had been their kids were grown. I just had it was nice. I don’t on my radar and think about it, right, we’re going through divorce. But he was just very rude to me and counted down the days till he could fire you. Yeah, even though I did more open houses and more everything for them, it didn’t matter. He would be like, how much longer until the contract is expired, how much longer and I just, it was just like, there was nothing I could do to make them happy, right. I also had a situation with a seller from another country. And she was came off as very cold. But I feel like I won her over and gained her trust. And then we got under contract fairly quickly. And through inspections, and then the house didn’t appraise. Okay, and she did not take that, well, I just totally blamed me. And we ended up doing what we had to do, right. And we closed and then after closing, she got my after closing email template. And it did ask in that one for sellers, like, hey, please send me your new address. So I can add you to my, my client list. And she was like, I am not giving you my new address. No way. And I was like, Okay, what, and she was like, I am just so unsatisfied with the service that you provided me and I’m like, wow, okay. And I’m sorry. She said, when it didn’t appraise, you should have told them that they no longer got the refrigerator. That’s an ongoing, you didn’t want the refrigerator would stay with the house, because you didn’t want to move it. And then they asked for it. And you gave it willingly? Well, I didn’t know at that time the house wasn’t going to appraise and I could have sold it. Like, okay, I don’t want you on my database. So I don’t need your address. Just don’t leave me a one star review. All right. Thank you. Goodbye. You know, sometimes it’s just
47:13
let them go. So no, you just gotta let them go. Anything else with a difficult deal you’d like to share?
47:19
I mean, how many stories do you want me to go on
47:21
and on? Well, I mean, you know, we don’t want to be like over the top on our time. You can tell one more if you have another good one. Do you have another good one? Yeah. Okay. I have one here. Bats. Do you have a story about bat?
47:33
I had bats in my personal home. Okay. And I had a situation with a house that had bats.
47:39
Okay. Now what you want to tell me tell me? No, it wasn’t on that. You have a good one that we need to get.
47:44
Okay. Yeah, so when I was newer, Okay, y’all, we there was like a running joke in the office. My first two years because I lived on phone duty and open houses and like, I I wasn’t asking my sphere because I felt like I was too young and they were already had to I had had a few tell me not gonna do so I was hurt. And I like I’m never going to ask a friend or family who’s me again. Okay. Anyway, so I was living on phone duty. And, you know, I got my nine transaction CALL ON PHONE duty. So that one paid off. Okay, this next one never paid off. But I learned it was this old man and I have a soft spot for the Okay, the seniors All right. And he was so old. And he was like, I have got to sell my house. It’s just, I don’t know what to do. I’m like, Okay, can you tell me your your address? And he’s like, tell he tells me his address. And it’s far away. Like, exactly.
48:47
You’re like, you’re like,
48:50
it was like 45 minutes from my house, but I’m like, I’ll be right over here. He’s like, Okay, well, it’s yellow. And it has all these flowers and the flower beds and you’ll see this and he’s describing the house to me. And I pull up and I’m like, Oh, God, is this. This? What? I’m like, very confused. Like, are you blind?
49:15
No flowers.
49:16
He was blind.
49:18
He was actually blind. Uh huh. I
49:20
hadn’t seen his house in 12 years.
49:23
Oh my word. Yep. It was yellow. Flowers. Yes.
49:29
Now it looks like a foreclosure that the bank forgot about. Oh, my heavens, okay. And I’m instantly feeling like looking back I cannot believe I went in this could have been a bad situation right? But I didn’t go in at first I call them. I said, I think I’m here I’m at the address you gave but it’s not the house you described and i There’s a car in the driveway, but I don’t think it runs Oh sweetie, I haven’t driven in I’m so and so yours because I’m blind. And I was like, Oh, of course. Yes. Okay, great. So I went in and his wife was not in a good way. There was a hospital bed, there was hospital things. I’m not a medically inclined person. I made my middle sister come with me to get my shots all the way through college because I hate medical things, okay. And I basically walked in, had to find him, because he couldn’t find me. I saw too much. And I was like, this is not going to work. And you just told him, this isn’t this is not going to work. I said, we cannot sell the house while she is here in the home. Right? It could harm her. If somebody trips over something I said, and it just doesn’t make people feel. It’s a very sad situation, right? I know, you can’t see that. But I can and it is sad. And we cannot sell the home with y’all living here. Well, we can’t move until we sell. So what do we do? And I’m like, Well, we’re just gonna have to figure this out. Do you have family? So we had to get family involved. And I did all this work. All this work. I had the our dear friend that we had on the podcast, Nicky beast and the title attorney, drive with me out there to get him to legally fill out some forms because he was blind. It had to be in front of a witness like legally, I can’t say like I took advantage of this man. I went to Zachary more times than I would have liked and had sometimes he would call me to ask me what time it was because he couldn’t see it was a bad situation. Wow. And after I got all the kids involved to try to help the parents, apparently they didn’t have a good relationship with the parents and had no sympathy. Okay. It was all around a bad situation. Only for me to one day. See shortly after that it was listed. Not with me.
52:03
Oh, my word.
52:06
One of the children was like, I’ll handle this, I’ll handle this and called his realtor and she just listed it and I was new. So I was upset. I needed that sale. I was I had spent countless hours and because I cared and right I hate to say it. This is the beginning of me. Stop caring. This
52:29
is when you made a little more professional.
52:32
Yes, this is when I realized, oh, I need some boundaries in place. I can’t like fix everyone. I can’t overstep in certain ways, even if they need help. Like, there’s only so much you can do. Right? Fair. And when it it took a long time, but it did close. And I called the agent after and I was like, Listen, I am not trying. I’m not calling to say like this was my client or anything I’m actually calling to say like, is Mr. Nelson, okay? Like, how what happened? Can you tell me and she was like, Oh my gosh, this was like the saddest situation I’ve ever been in blah, blah, blah. We were in the process of finding somewhere for them to go and she passed. Okay, so then in a way it made things a little easier because we just had to find him like an assisted living to get them out. And anyway, I will never forget what a mess of a story that was. Right? It was very, you know, I did so much work right for nothing. Yeah, nothing. I mean,
53:32
wow. Yeah. Wow. Well, let’s end on that.
53:37
Sorry.
53:39
I was really sad.
53:40
But I mean, oh, my God, if that would happen today. I would never have handled it the way I handled right, right. Not saying it was wrong for me to care, because I was I would have helped if I could have but I never even helped. Right. Like nothing I did mattered, right? I never made it that far.
54:02
You didn’t get that far. Okay, well, it was a noble effort. Let’s call it that. I
54:07
learned a lie. I really did I write about all sorts of things fry you know, like a mentally incapacitated seller.
54:17
Right. What if they are? Legal Information? Yes, I did. Yeah. learning lesson learning lessons for important.
54:24
You don’t lose you learn.
54:27
Right. There you go. Okay. I hope that we didn’t I don’t know depress anyone today
54:36
was that episode where we got off on the tangent? Oh, the forever home with a coffin and we ended with talking about dying in your home and coffins. I feel like this kind of took the dark route to
54:49
I mean, here’s the sad truth of it in real estate. It’s you’re dealing with people’s lives, which may also include their deaths and divorces. Yeah, I mean, you’re it’s not It’s a everyone needs shelter, right? Until they don’t. Right? Like you’re gonna be involved in some people, you were like, kind of appalled, amazed but I’ve had quite a few deaths during transaction for telling me I haven’t really had that menu more transactions than me but I’m like I don’t maybe death just No, it’s not that many. It’s not that many that I mean, I have I have had some I have not or I’ve had a lot that were listings due to death, right? Like, oh, it was the death this one story I just told us the only death that happened during a transaction. But I’ve known other agents who’s had quite a like, has it it happens, right? So when people post that the little when the peep the seller posts, my house is sold and they just got a contract. I’m like you’re far from sold. We don’t know what’s going to happen between now and closing. Right? Anything could happen. All right. Would you like a toast? Let’s bring this up. Let’s brighten it up. Do
55:59
we have any better stories we can end on like a happy story about how do you find a happy about difficult deal?
56:06
I’m you’re right. It’s just meant to be a little bit of a down there are some difficult deals that it feels like you’re solving a puzzle like you’re you’re solving a problem and then work it out and everything’s okay. But I’ve had some, I don’t know have a lot of uplifting, difficult deal stories.
56:24
Me neither.
56:25
I’m sorry to say,
56:26
now. I was trying to you’re like maybe I can get one. I can’t think if anything.
56:31
No, I mean, no, sorry. Sorry to say okay, okay,
56:36
let’s toast
56:38
as well. We need to just get out of here. Yeah. Okay. Here’s the here’s the deal. Leslie Clayman in Lubbock, Texas. And I think Leslie is in the community is in Lubbock, Texas, and she wants to test to Morgan gates. Okay, so Morgan willingly answers all of my questions and text messages even after switching brokerages. She has offered to let me shadow her. She has helped me price listings, and she always helps and encourages me as a first year young realtor. This help has been unbelievably appreciated. Cheers, Morgan. That’s really sweet. Oh, cheers to Morgan and thank you to Leslie. You know, good. We needed to end on an on
57:23
up, Dan. That was great. Thank you.
57:26
Thank you for bringing up the mood. Okay, Goodbye, everyone. Goodbye. Terrible so bad.
57:32
We need something light and fluffy next week. Thank you so much for tuning in to the hustle humbly podcast. If
57:40
you enjoyed this episode, please go to rate this podcast.com/hustle humbly and leave us a review or drop a comment if you’re listening on Spotify. If you
57:48
have an episode topic or someone you’d like to toast on the show, please email us at team at hustle humbly podcast.com
57:54
Find us on social media at hustle humbly podcast. Don’t forget to find all the free resources at hustle humbly podcast.com/resources See you next week. This is the goodbye
