All In a Day’s Work: Solving Real-Life, Real Estate Problems for Our Clients

Looking for a new home can be a very emotionally charged experience. Sometimes you have to protect clients from decisions that aren’t in their best interest.

Problem: Years ago, our client had fallen in love with a house, but the deal had fallen through at the last minute and she had been devastated. Fast forward six years and she was ready to resume the search for her dream home. Yet every house we looked at that fit her criteria — 3 bedrooms, updated, lots of space for entertaining, central air —, she rejected. Then we walked into THE house, and she could barely contain her excitement. She whispered: "I have to have this house. Do whatever you can to get it for me.” We wanted to ensure the home would be hers, but we did not want her to overpay.

Solution: We immediately told her to play it cool so as not to tip off the seller’s agent. We started expressing aloud some of our misgivings about the house within earshot of the agent and as a way to tamp down our client’s excitement. We learned from the agent that he would entertain offers as they came in, so we knew that we needed to act fast, but thoughtfully. Our client was willing to pay over asking because she didn’t want to lose out on another house she had fallen in love with. We counseled against that. Yes, it was a hot spring market. Yes, this was the first open house. But our gut and experience told us that if we offered asking price that very evening, we had a good shot. Our client thought we were crazy.

She was wrong. Our client has been loving her new home for a year and a half. Every morning she wakes up and can’t believe it’s hers.

All in a Day’s Work: Solving Real-Life, Real Estate Problems for our Clients is a monthly feature brought to you by Marie Presti of the Presti Group, Inc. Our agents specialize in luxury homes, rehabilitations, multi-families and condominiums in urban, suburban and exurban areas throughout the Greater Boston area. Marie Presti is a Certified Negotiation Expert. For more information, visit http://www.theprestigroup.com