Make an offer, you never know

You are the listing agent of a house. The house has been on the market for eight months.

The seller is an old Italian lady who insists on getting the listed price of $600K. She turned down offers of $580K before.

A young couple came to your open house. Over the next month, they visited the house for the third time and decided to make an offer for $520K, the maximum they could afford.

What are you going to do?

You told the young couple, who happens to be of Italian descent, that the seller had turned down an offer of $580K not too long ago. You would present the offer, but you also asked the young couple to come with you.

The old lady, owner of the house, and the young couple chatted away without talking about the offer.

After the meeting, the seller asked you whether they made an offer. You said yes. "How much?" "$520K."

The old lady looked disappointed. There was a moment of silence. You feel humiliated, not by your client, but by the fact that you were not able to secure an offer at the listed price in eight months. The house was over-priced but you couldn't get the old lady to accept a more realistic price.

"I will accept the offer," she said.

"What???.... I thought you......"

"I like the couples. When I bought this house with my husband fifty years ago, we were just like them, working hard for the family...... I like them, and I will sell the house to them."

This is a real story that happened to one of my fellow realtors. Cool...