This past week I turned down the opportunity to list a property for nearly $2 million, however I estimated it to be worth about 20% less. The seller was adamant about getting his number. The property was in the final phases of foreclosure, and a bankruptcy filing had stalled the process. The bankruptcy was giving the seller a chance to sell the house and salvage some equity, but there wasn’t anywhere near as much equity there as the seller was dreaming about.
Generally, when houses are in foreclosure and a homeowner is facing bankruptcy, the house falls into disrepair, as the owner has no means to keep up with basic maintenance. I worked with short sellers and banks for more than half a decade going into and through the Great Recession, so I have a lot of experience with these situations. This particular house showed exceptionally poorly, not only because of the substantial disrepair, but because the seller was also a borderline hoarder.
I can sell any house, but I can’t work with every seller. I’m happy and grateful for the opportunities I have to sell homes. On a personal level I really liked this particular seller and wanted to help him. And I couldn’t blame him for wanting as much money as he could imagine he might get. It’s just that I didn’t want to go chasing his dream. When a seller won’t listen to what his Realtor, and then the market tells him about the value of his home but he won’t adjust the price accordingly, the vast majority of the time that home won’t sell.
If I could have spent some money on fixing up the house and been assured of getting the money back when a sale happened, I would have agreed to help the seller. The problem was I didn’t think he’d sell, and I’d end up losing all my time and money on the project. When I looked up the property in the MLS, I noticed that happened to another Realtor with the same seller years before. He tried to sell for several months before the listing expired without ever adjusting the price. The seller gave me no reason to believe his approach would be any different this time.
I also would not have minded representing the seller and his house in it’s “as is” condition, as long as the seller was realistic about the value. I thought a lot about what I should do, because I was torn about helping him and I really don’t like turning down business. But when he called me to confirm he was ready to list the property with me, I declined the opportunity.
I truly hope the seller gets what he wants for the property. I just didn’t feel there would be a successful sale under the circumstances.