Recently I received one of those dreaded calls that none of us as Realtors ever want to get; "Uh Amber, I don't know how to say this but um..."
Needless to say, my breathing paused for a second and I felt like my heart dropped to the floor.
The agent on the phone continued with something along the lines of "my sellers have decided to take a different offer."
So of course my next question was...
Is the other offer for the full price listing amount?"
He said it was not a full price offer but much better than our agreed to offer and it was an ALL cash deal.
There hadn't been any "action" on this home in the nearly 6 months it had been listed, so they did another price reduction.
Now that I brought in qualified buyers, with no contingencies, nothing to sell in order to get a mortgage in order to buy this home and a 30% down-payment, the home was finally going to sell but not to my buyers.
This should've been a piece of cake, right? I mean it IS a "buyers market" right? WRONG!
At first I was really annoyed by it all; I mean think about it, this guy gets no traffic on a home he has listed for a long time, I bring him A+++ buyers, buyers & sellers agree and sign-off, paperwork goes to the attorneys and we're in New Jersey mandated 3-day attorney review period. After 3 days (or as soon as all parties agree), we'd officially be "under contract."
I have a great rapport with my buyers, and am confident I will sell them something else when the right property comes along. I was as worried about me losing a deal, as much as I was concerned about them losing out on their dream house.
The feelings of frustration didn't last very long, because as much as I disagree with how things happen in the real estate biz at times, "business is business...never personal."
The greatest sense of disappointment I felt was having to call my buyers. It killed me to hear the sound of defeat in my client's voice when I told him he'd have to tell his wife that the dream house he promised to purchase for her was no longer within reach. They are such wonderful people, and I'd never want to let them down. The husband resigned to the belief that it must not have been meant to be, but I could still hear that he was bummed out about it; not with me, but with the idea that they lost out on the house.
Here are four valuable lessons for ALL home buyers can learn from this:
1. Any true financial wiz will tell you the name of the game is to "buy low and sell high." So when your Realtor tells you that there are a lot of buyers in the market right now I stronly encourage you to give that some serious thought. Interest rates are at a nearly 40 year low and buyers are coming out in droves to purchase homes. Don't believe it? Checkout this story for proof.
2. Please DO NOT assume that no one else is able to actually get a mortgage but you. There are tons of people with great credit scores over 740 and money in the bank looking at houses everyday in this current climate. Often times they are cash buyers. As we've all been told, CASH IS KING! 
3. The one-size fits all generalized notion that it's a "buyers market" is FALSE. While there are plenty of "so-so" houses to go around in many areas across the country, in New Jersey where I specialize in selling homes(especially in towns like Manalapan, Marlboro, Freehold, Old Bridge) there ARE NOT enough drop-dead gorgeous, appropriately priced houses on the market right now to go around. This NOT a "put-on"...this is the truth!
Therefore when really HOT houses pop on the market (especially once the price gets reduced), you have a bunch of qualified buyers ALL vying to purchase the same house. It's like a bunch of people fighting over the last new video game in the height of the holiday shopping season at Target.
In fact we're seeing the reemergence of multiple contracts being presented. This means that it's not necessarily the buyers having the upper hand on the sellers anymore, but rather the "buyers" battling it out with "other buyers."
4. Never take anything for granted or assume you're the only one eyeing a particular house. If YOU really LOVE a house, chances are there may be other qualified buyers lurking who LOVE it too! Please don't get YOUR heart broken. If it feels like the right house, it probably is the right house. Have your agent write an offer ASAP before someone else does.
Stay positive & motivated,
Amber
Weichert, Realtors (Marlboro office)
455 Route 9 South
Manalapan, NJ 07726
917-723-5645 - cell
732-536-4400, ext 199 - office
