Not long
after the last real estate bust here in South Florida, I found a FSBO home in
an area I was targeting. The owner was a widow who had made the decision to
sell her house and move north to be closer to family. The rents in her
neighborhood did not justify the asking price. And she refused my offer. I left
my number and asked her to contact me if she ever reconsidered.
A month
later, she called and asked me to stop by. We went back and forth until we
arrived at a price we both could live with.
I had my
attorney draw up an agreement and got the financing ball rolling. With the
agreement and a deposit in hand, I went back to the seller.
When I arrived
at her home, her son was there. At the last moment he had flown in from New
York. He said my price was not acceptable and even his mother’s original asking
price was too low. I tried to reason with him, but he was of the mindset that
prices would skyrocket once again and I would double my money in no time.
With that,
I walked away empty handed.
Indeed, a
waste of my time, my attorney’s time, and my mortgage broker’s time. But there
was a lesson learned in that if a similar situation arises, I will ask: “Are
you the decision maker on this? Is there anyone else who should be involved?”
Would you like more ideas
on buying and managing rental properties? Pick up a copy of What You Must Know BEFORE Becoming a Greedy
Landlord. It’s available in paperback and Kindle formats at Amazon.
You can also order it from Barnes
& Noble, Booklocker,
iTunes,
and kobo.
