Blog
The Runaway Buyer
August 2, 2010 by Esi · 20 Comments
Yes, I was left at the altar. Just imagine a few hours to the wedding of your dreams with beautiful white flowing gown, bridal train, bouquets, 7 tier cakes, wine bar, best DJ in town, a wedding planner for the stars to boot…you get the idea, and the music come on, “here comes the bride…” walking down the aisle with no groom waiting in anticipation for you at the altar. Well, ladies and gentlemen….after all the preparation for the wedding of the year, I’m sorry the grown had cold feet and the wedding is cancelled.
Yeah, I know it sounds a little dramatic, but it did happen to me. After all the preparation and looking forward to a few thousands of mullah in my bank account my buyer backed out on the day of closing. I knew it was a possibility and always dreaded a phone call from my title company on the day of closing, but it’s never happened to me before and my worst fear finally became a reality.
The day after I got this house under contract, I sent pictures and all the information to only one of my buyers because I he is pretty fast and I knew he would love this house. He called me an hour latter and wanted his contracted to go see the house in an hour, so I called the homeowner and arrange for him to meet “my contractor” , but my seller was out of town for the weekend so we set up a time for them to meet on Monday at 10am. At 11am I got a call from my buyer and he wanted me to send him an assignment contract and set up a time to meet to get my EMD. I sent him the contract and within hours I got a signed contract and we planned to meet the following day.
I had closed 2 deals with this buyer in the past and had never met him so this meeting was very special for me. I posted on facebook asking my fb friends if I should pay or have him pay for dinner and they suggested I pay since he is a good buyer. As a female, I’ve never had to pay for a meal when my company is a male, because he always insist on paying, but this time I was determined to take the tab. First of all getting to dinner was a merry go round, I was supposed to meet him at his office, then we will both go to a restaurant 1 mile away and it turned out there was a miscommunication because he thought we were just going to meet at the restaurant. Anyway, I got to his office on time, but didn’t make it to the restaurant till 30 mins later because I got lost 3 times. I know, I’m very bad with directions, and my husband always comes to my rescue as my human GPS but let’s leave that for another blog post.
We had a great dinner and there was hardly a pulse during our conversation but I insisted on paying and 2 hours later, he left and the waitress was upset that he left without paying because he is a man and needs to pay. I told her I didn’t mind and that it was my treat and she kinda snapped and said “it doesn’t matter, the man should always pay” anyway, I gave her a nice tip and left.
The title for this house came out clean and clear 2 days later and we were set to close Monday. On Monday morning I got an email from my title guy telling me he doesn’t think my buyer will close. I called him right away and wanted to get to the bottom of it and it turned out the yearly taxes were higher than was anticipated. Okay let’s backtrack, Initially we thought the yearly taxes was $3500, but my seller said his yearly taxes was reduced to $2600 and after several tries to have him send me his last tax bill, he finally sent it on Sunday, day before closing, and even though it was $2600, it happened to be his summer tax bill. When I asked him what his winter bill was he said he didn’t have that and that all he had was the summer bill, so I faxed it to my buyer right away. After the taxes were verified, the total tax bill was about $3000.
If you’ve been reading my blog, you know I don’t take no for an answer, so I called my buyer and tried different tactics from reducing the price of the house to helping to pay part of the tax bill and he said the numbers just don’t work for him and his partner. But of course, I’m a fighter and didn’t let it get me down. Luckily I had another closing scheduled for that day. I immediately called the homeowner to apologize, I was very honest about the situation and told him to give me more time to find another buyer, but if he found one first, I would shred the contract. This time I sent the house information to my other buyers and on Friday I found a buyer and we are set to close this week.
… and we lived (hopefully) happily ever after.
What’s up Esi?
Another great post…My contract typically has the buyer paying closing costs while the seller pays back taxes….If you run into a similar problem in the future, maybe you could consider that an option as well.
Take care,
David
Hey David, That’s what my contract says too. I was referring to yearly taxes in this case not back taxes. My buyer factored in his ROI and the numbers didn’t work for him. This week is going to be great, i feel it.
Get it Esi!!! Hope it’s a big week for us.
Way to recover, Esi! As far as that runaway buyer is concerned, you already know he wants a ton more houses so I suspect you’ll be selling several more to him in the coming months.
Shae´s last blog ..1000 Postcards- Monkey Offers- and a 7-Day Action Plan
Hey Shae, Happy Anniversary, I’m sure you had a great time, Phil is one lucky man. My buyer is actually very interested in the 4 package deal I have for sale and I just sent him the rent rolls this morning. I hope we can close this week.
Good Stuff Esi. You still have a quality buyer on your hands based on his track record and him wanting to do more deals with you. It’s always about the numbers. Being that you are buying right investors are always going to line up to pick up your deals. Interested to see how that package deal turns out. Keep crushing it!!!!
Hey Erby, really nice talking to you yesterday. I’m looking forward to your new project and wishing you lots of success with it. He is a quality buyer and I’m looking forward to closing many more deals with him in future. I’ll keep you updated.
Great story, Esi! I was definitely entertained, I could see a video spoof being made about this story!
I guess these things happen but it’s always a learning experience. And, that’s what counts. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks Racheal, Glad you had a chuckle, lol. When I look back at what happened iit’s quite funny, but it wasn’t on that day for sure. I sent you an email, did you get it?
Hey Esi, it definitely gave me a good chuckle – great entertainment to start off my day!
Oh, an email? I checked but didn’t see one from you. I’m so sorry I didn’t get it! I just got your email about your comment. If you’d like to try another route, you can also send me a msg through twitter at http://www.twitter.com/mobilehomegurl. I can try sending you a msg too. Hopefully, we can connect!
Great information. My first read of your work. However I can’t help but comment on the waitress.
I hope I am not too harsh on her but she really does not know what she is talking about and might be the reasons she is still waitressing.
For business, the rule of thumb is the seller always pays; they are the one trying to win your business. Sex, age, financial level, or position in a company has nothing to do with it.
If it were a relationship dinner, I would totally agree with her but a business dinner has its own set of rules.
If I was at dinner with a lady and she was trying to sell my company a product or service which her company would profit from, it’s her responsibility to take care of her customer, namely me.
I also feel it’s inappropriate for anyone in the service industry to comment. It’s not their call and they cannot know the whole story unless they sat at the table with you through the entire meal.
Hey John, it’s good to see you around. I understand your point, but I won’t be too hard on the waitress though, she did not know that it was a business meeting and probably thought it was a date. I don’t believe the seller always has to pay. I’ve had instances where I went out for a bite with my sellers and paid the bill. I think it depends on the situation.
Sorry to hear the deal fell, though, Esi, but at least you have another buyer lined up. I’ll be keeping my fingers crossed that it gets to closing this time!
Steph´s last blog ..Flip This Wholesaler 30 Day Challenge You In
Thanks Steph. I’ll be closing on the deal this week…hopefully i won’t have another run away buyer.
Wow, love your blog!
So you claim NOT to be a guru or expert, you liar! After reading your entire blog, I’d buy your course, you know exactly what your doing!
I too have done a great deal of online studies, and recently completed a Jon Zorrer, and Vena Jones Cox (local mentors) seminar on Short Sales/Foreclosures.
I just sent out 100 yellow letters, with only one returned phone call. What am I doing wrong, please help as you are thee authority of wholesaling and yellow letters, lol!
I got this yellow letter online and tweak it a bit, what should I do different? It reads:
My name is William, my wife is Aretha.
I understand you are behind on your payments.
You are not alone in this!
Call and talk to me, before you make any decisions, I have a workable plan.
Again, I HAVE A PLAN to ESCAPE foreclosure!
Here’s my cell # 513.555.5555
William and Aretha
513.555.5555
CALL ME, LET’S TALK!
I DO HAVE A PLAN!
P.S. Is it possible to obtain a copy of your yellow letter, or am I too late?
Lol, it’s sounds like a compliment, so i’ll take it. Thank you.
I have nothing against honest gurus but i’m not one. I only started wholesaling real estate this year and closed my first deal in February and several others till date. Even though it seem like i know a lot, it’s because I’ve committed ungodly hours to learning my business and trying to be the best at it and hopefully become an expert someday. I also love to share my experiences and I’m glad you love it.
In this business one has to experiment with different marketing styles until they find what works and stick to it. Several months ago, I went out to put up 20 Bandit signs for buyer with my husband and kids after midnight for about 4 hours and I got only 2 calls. When I tried yellow letters, I got over 40 calls or about 35% response and I was blown away. Which marketing style do you think I stuck to? You guessed right, the yellow letter for buyers. My bandit signs are gathering dust in my garage right now.
I’m not sure what you are doing wrong, but i will encourage you to try again, or try other marketing styles, or another area.
I would send you my yellow letter for buyers and it just might work for you.
Let me know how it goes. Good luck!