I just wanted to relate an event that happened recently. A friend of the family and past client of ours recently listed her home for sale (not with us). She is a single lady in her 50's. We have known her family for years. Of course it's never a good thing when that happens but we have learned over the years to get somewhat used to it. A few weeks later we learned the circumstances around what actually happened and the story is a good lesson.
Our friend has a townhouse and has been toying with the idea of downsizing for months. She wandered into an open house and fell in love with an apartment. The realtor, a long time veteran, convinced her that the owner would not look at a "subject to sale" offer and further that the sale had to close in under 30 days. In other words she had to purchase the apartment without the safety net of being able to sell her townhouse first. One can only imagine the pressure she must have felt. The quick close of 30 days put further pressure on her. In effect she was put into the position of having to sell her property for "potentially" less than market value. Secondly, who knows what she was told about what a fair price was for the apartment.
If our friend had made a phone call to us we would have set her straight. In certain circumstances it is appropriate to make an offer without subject to sale. Determining that is best done with your own realtor, not the listing agent. I think that the outcome would have been different if our friend had hired her own realtor, someone independent. Her own realtor would not have their own agenda. Her own realtor could make an honest assessment of an approrpriate price to offer for the apartment. Her own realtor could decipher what type of offer the seller really would look at. Her own realtor could advise her of the positives and negatives of making an offer with or without the protection of a subject to sale clause. I'm not saying that this all did not take place exactly as I would have handled it but I shudder to think of the posibilities.
The lesson is that buyers should never be pressured take actions without first consulting their own realtor. At worst our friend paid too much for the apartment and sold her property for too little. The amounts could be in the tens of thousands. An honest second opinion is never a bad thing.
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