Posted by nobody on March 30, 2003 at 22:19:32:
You can read ten different accounts of Edison and the number of attempts will change ten times.
FIRST DEAL GONE BAD??? - Posted by Tamara Winstead
Posted by Tamara Winstead on March 24, 2003 at 17:03:18:
I was ecstatic last wekk thinking my first deal was done. I had down payment in hand $250 and all the necessary paperwork signed and an approval from the PM…then all of a sudden the next day this guy calls and says hes changed his mind. TALK ABOUT A DOWNER!!! I kept cool and he wanted to know when we could meet so he could give me back the keys. He said “sorry, something came up” He didn’t say anything about his money. Today he calls and I say “just leave the keys with the Pm and I’ll pick them up” He’s like what about my money?" I said “well you took ownership of the home and paid your downpayment, this was not a deposit so Iw on’t be able to give it back.” I told him to go read all the paperwork he signed. I said “its just like when you buy a car.After you make your down payment and leave the lot if you come back a day later and change your mind you don’t get your money back” So was I right or wrong??? I’ve searched the archives on this and came up with nothing. Back to the drawing board. SIGH
TAMARA WINSTEAD
Re: FIRST DEAL GONE BAD??? - Posted by Tamara Winstead
Posted by Tamara Winstead on March 25, 2003 at 12:51:58:
Well, I’ve pulled myself up by my boot straps…to start over again. I called and put my ads back in the paper today. Thanks you guys for your great advice!!! I’m still decided to keep the money. That night when he was filling out the paperwork somebody actually came by that the PM had referred to me and wanted the place and I turned them down because of him. Just thinking about him makes me ill BUT I will take this blow and move forward…If I haven’t sold it by the end of the week I will use his money as the lot rent that I will now have to pay…
Re: FIRST DEAL GONE BAD??? - Posted by Don-NY
Posted by Don-NY on March 25, 2003 at 07:31:02:
I would probably not give any of the money back. This guy may have cost you a whole months rent, Then changed his mind. That is why they call it a DEPOSIT! Besides this may strengthen your will then when the payments are late you will be prepaired to deal with it.
Re: FIRST DEAL GONE BAD??? - Posted by Tennessee Bob
Posted by Tennessee Bob on March 25, 2003 at 07:30:45:
Tamara,
-
Did you turn away any perspective buyers because the home was sold?
-
What was the time period between the so called buyer signing the contract and then changing his mind?
If the answers are 1. yes 2. 3 days or less – give back half the money.
If the answers are 1. yes 2. more then three days – keep all the money and explain that you have lost the oppertinity to sell to another person and he should be glad that you are not going to hold him to the contract.
If the answers are 1. no 2. less then 3 days – give back half the money, You have lost marketing time.
if the answers are 1. no 2. more then 3 days keep all the money. You have lost marketing time, and he has waited to long to change his mind.
Now don’t think of this as legal advice, it’s just my own moral out-look on this situation.
Remember, to be paitent, the right buyer WILL COME.
Good luck and GOD Bless.
Tennessee Bob.
Re: FIRST DEAL GONE BAD??? - Posted by Phil Pelletier
Posted by Phil Pelletier on March 25, 2003 at 02:51:21:
Tamara,
Nothing feels as bad as that first deal going south. However, take a few days off from worrying about the ground rent payment and then attack the situation with new energy. You have experienced one of the lows of this business and you were lucky enough to get it out of the way early. Everyone who is serious about this business feels what you are feeling. The next time you here a person say “Thank you for financing this home for me. I don’t know what I would have done without your generosity”, it will all have worth it. One of the first deals I worked on (2bed/2bath SW with a big shop) sold to the first guy the first day. I thought I was a genious. I paid $3000 and he was going to put down $2,000 and pay me $467/month for 24 months. What a sale! (I told him I would not charge him interesr if he paid it off in two years). He was denied by the park for bad credit. What a crushing defeat! But I sold the place for $6,000 cash and have moved on. You will find someone! Keep trying!
Phil Pelletier
PS- I don’t know the exact number of attempts, but Thomas Edison tried 500 plus items (including his own facial hair) before he discovered Tungsten would work as a light bulb filament. What made that man try item number 368? Sheer WILL!
follow all this advice and, buyers remorse - Posted by Philip
Posted by Philip on March 24, 2003 at 20:19:31:
I don’t know if they have 3 days to change their mind because of buyers remorse?
My banker said if he loaned me money it would have to wait 3 days because of a “buyer’s remorse” waiting period.
Im sure others can fill you in more on this, and whether or not to give any back.
My tendency would be to be tough in attitude, but maybe give a portion back so that you seem to be the “good guy”.
Sorry for the setback…I have had some also…hang tough.
Philip
Re: FIRST DEAL GONE BAD??? - Posted by Tony-VA
Posted by Tony-VA on March 24, 2003 at 19:23:24:
The decision to return a portion of the money is something to consider. In the past I have kept some and returned the rest and justified it by my time and the rent I will now have to pay since I had to take the home off the market. This is another incentive for obtaining higher down payments. It is easier to give back half than it is to keep it all.
What you and I did wrong was miss the final “close” in the negotiations. David Segers put it best in a post a long time ago. David calls it the ‘button up close’.
Here is the link.
http://www.creonline.com/mobilehomes/wwwboard4/messages/8968.html
It does not directly address your problem but you will no doubt see how to adapt it to your/my mistake.
Tony
U r right - Posted by Steve-WA
Posted by Steve-WA on March 24, 2003 at 17:43:00:
I might consider changing the locks and getting some insurance on that sucker RIGHT NOW.
You are exactly right - lesson learned, tho’: when “closing”, make sure that it is CRYSTAL CLEAR to the buyer that when the money leaves their hands, it is gone for good.
Depending on the situation, you may want to give it back anyway; maybe keep $100 for your trouble, maybe not. Virtually this same thing happened to me before, only the girl got freaked out with the “major purchase”, and had her dad call to get the $400 back. Eventually, I obliged, because I wanted no bad publicity. I hadn’t covered all of my bases correctly (contractually), so I thought it the smart thing to do.
Consider adapting Joe Kaiser’s “Best Darn Document on the Planet” - see the Articles.
Re: FIRST DEAL GONE BAD??? - Posted by pete(AR)
Posted by pete(AR) on March 24, 2003 at 17:42:21:
Don’t worry you’ll find another buyer. At least you got to keep the $250.
Re: follow all this advice and, buyers remorse - Posted by Chuck (CA)
Posted by Chuck (CA) on March 24, 2003 at 20:25:07:
Why not return the entire amount? He may not want to share his hard/bad times with you. It’s not that much cash to begin with.
This could be GOOD advertising for you and it’s FREE!
Why argue over a principal? Unless there is more that we don’t see of understand!
Good luck.