Abusive Buyer #1 - Yes Buyer's can get very Angry

Roby Robertson Tells A Story of a MAD MAD Buyer!

“May you see sunshine where others see shadows, and opportunities where others see obstacles.”

– Unknown

In my early days of real estate, I was working with a buyer that turned out to be a real doozie!   He told me actually called her previous Realtor first and she told him she was too busy at that time.   In hindsight that should have been a telltale sign.  No Realtor turns down business unless there is no way to work with that individual.   You can always refer it to someone else and get a referral fee.  I SHOULD HAVE KNOWN!  Wish this person knew that quote above.   Oh well,  here we go!

 

Note:  Please listen to the advice of your agent on the order in which you do your due diligence!

I showed this buyer (we will call him Joey) and his family numerous homes on Lake Norman.  This went on for a few months.  I won't get into the details of these showings but it was eventful!  Ultimately Joey decided he needed to find a waterfront lot so he could built what he wanted.  

After viewing and evaluating numerous pieced of property, we finally found the right one.   Like many lots on Lake Norman at this time, there was an old home that would ultimately need to be take down to replace with a new one.   The good news is that you could hire the fire department to do a control burn of the home if it fit the right criteria and you could get some sort of tax credit for allowing this to happen.  (more on that later).

We found out the property was now owned by a 73 year old man that had just lost his brother and inherited it.   Interestingly as I came to find out, my client low balls everything so it took numerous attempts to get this under contract.   The brother now owning the property would not negotiate because he was smart and his explanation (which I thought was classic) "THEY ARE NOT BUILDING ANY MORE LAND ON THIS LAKE!!!"    

Ultimately my client was in the first phase of angry because he had to pay the sellers price!! 

So the process began.   The buyer did 2 things but I told him in the wrong order or actually should have delayed one of them.  He applied for a loan which prompted an appraisal.  While he waited he paid an engineer to mark the septic tank and repair area to ensure he could build the home he wanted.   He paid this person somewhere in the range of $500 to $1000 to do this.   This engineer marked all the sites with different color markers in the yard.   Low and behold the appraisal came back and did not appraise to the purchase price.    The seller refused to lower the price ( see explanation above).    

Now we enter phase two of buyers anger level.  He cancelled the contract in a fit of rage and subsequently went to the lot and started pulling up all the septic markers at the house.   While doing this 2 new buyers came to look at the lot and he basically scared them away by ranting about the seller and the appraisal.

Now the buyer really wanted this lot because it was awesome with deep water so he ultimately agreed to pay the sellers price and make up the difference with cash.    He was not hurting for money!!

So once the loan is approved we go to closing.   The buyer is still SO angry at the seller that the closing attorney has to separate buyer and seller in different rooms ( remember seller is 73 years old).  When Joey enters the conference room,  he THROWS the contract at me and states the seller is in breach of contract because the property was not in the same condition as when he bought it.   NOTE:  the complaint was that he had not mowed the grass!!!   I said to Joey,  aren't you having a control burn tomorrow which will result in firetrucks being all over the yard with lots of water!!!   He ignored this  because the man was in a rage.  His wife and daughter would not make eye contact with embarrassment.    

This story ends with me getting up from my seat and going to the waiting area to talk to the attorney.   I told him that I had enough of this guy and gave him my card.  I told him if he needed anything from me to get this done, I will fulfill my obligation and assist but I would not spend another minute with that $##$@.    Thankfully I have never seen or heard from him again.

Moral of the story:   Be kind to one another and remember anger is just a waste of time!