The Day the Condo Didn’t Sell

After 8.5 months of showings and cleaning and leaving the condo for hours at a time for open houses we finally got word that we’d be getting an offer (not like last time where we were told we’d be getting an offer and didn’t).

Wednesday evening at 11pm (after we were already asleep) The Cowboy received a text from our realtor that an offer was coming, but that the buyers were having technical difficulties.

Ugh. Whatever. Time to go back to sleep. It’s not like they’re actually going to offer on the place.

On Thursday morning when we still hadn’t heard, I figured nothing was coming.

Lunchtime on Thursday that changed. We received an offer, but it was far, far too low. We told the realtor that we wouldn’t accept an offer that low ($25,000 below our ask price) but we’d consider an offer $10,000 below our ask price if he was willing to make some concessions on the commission price.

At this point we thought we’d probably have a deal.

Next we started negotiating our washer and dryer. We upgraded our washer and dryer about a year ago and planned to take the new washer and dryer with us and leave the originals. The buyers wanted the upgraded washer and dryer. Sure, but they’ll have to pay for them.

It was at the point I saw the deal starting to fall apart. We had told our realtor we were okay with $10,000 below the ask price (with original washer and dryer and reduced commissions on the sale). He came back saying they need to pay $2,500 for the original washer and dryer or $5,000 for the new – making the price $5,000 below our ask price.

Ummmm. What?!

He had already communicated this to the buyers so we never had the opportunity to correct him. We knew that if we told him to go back and offer the lower price, they’d come back at an even lower price and we’d lose our shirts.

As expected the deal fell apart. But not before The Cowboy had to message our realtor to find out about the deal. We had assumed that since we hadn’t heard from him, our counter-offer was still on the table and the buyers were just asking to extend their time to respond while they looked at their options and budget. That was not the case. They failed to reply to their realtor by the end time and our realtor never told us.

When The Cowboy messaged the realtor to find out about the deal, the message he received in reply was a song and dance about how when we dropped our price we received an offer right away and how our realtor delayed his vacation for two days to do this.

My response? I don’t care if you delay your vacation. You work for me. Your job is to SELL MY CONDO.Please and thank you very much. I’m quite unimpressed that our realtor attempted to increase the price of the condo in an attempt to increase his commissions. Throughout this whole process neither of us have been impressed with our realtor. In the end, the condo didn’t sell.

But – I’m actually not heartbroken that the condo didn’t sell. The buyers wanted to move in on August 19. That was 15 days from the offer date. Seriously. I can’t imagine the headache that would cause. AND if we didn’t find a place to rent, we’d have to live in a hotel. So, in the end, I’m kind of okay with it.

I think I’m more peeved at the way our realtor didn’t appear to listen to our requests that I am that the condo didn’t sell. Packing and moving in 15 days? No thank you very much.