Mr. Seller Won't Play With Us!

The listing agent had told me that her Wilmette sellers were not motivated (so why are they selling?) They had a decent house in a great neighborhood that had been on the market for over a year. But the price was too high. Slowly and laboriously, they lowered the price over the past twelve months - but it's still a tad on the high side. Sigh.

Enter my buyer who likes the house and neighborhood, likes the potential . . . is motivated and will pay cash. But will not overpay.

In a time of great angst for sellers, my buyer made a good solid offer. Cash. Really, no financing. Close anytime you want. All we asked is that you come out and play with us - give us something. Throw us a bone to chew on.

Whoa. You sent back your counter offer: 99.45% of original price. We didn't mean to offend you - it was just an invitation. Who knows where we would have ended up. But since you never even gave us a chance, we must move on.

Somebody will bite. And somebody will soon be selling their home. Unfortunately, it just won't be you, Mr. Wilmette seller.