Grinding Through A Seller's Market With Grace - A Family's Success Story

Larry and Jeanette deserve big smiles at the closing table.  They are the happy, and possibly relieved, new homeowners of a lovely Cedar Hills home, although they endured a stressful purchase situation that gave them pause on more than one occasion during the transaction.

Larry and Jeanette had been searching in a very specific neighborhood and immediately liked the new listing that grabbed their eye.  Within a few days, they made a strong offer of which the seller wouldn’t respond;  The sellers had decided to wait until their open house to garner competing offers.  After waiting and fretting, the sellers finally agreed to Larry and Jeanette’s full-price offer on Tuesday morning.  Hours after signing our offer, the sellers received a second offer $10K over asking price and with 50% down.

After a thorough inspection process, Larry and Jeanette asked for a few repairs, which included a replacement of a broken sewer line.  The sellers again didn’t respond for another week, and when they did, they said they would make the corrections requested IF Larry and Jeanette increased their purchase price by $10K, exceeding the cost of repairs by several thousand dollars.  Although legal for a seller to ask for more money than what was originally negotiated on the sales agreement, it was a surprise.  Larry and Jeanette found themselves in the middle of a seller’s market, a tough seller’s market.  In the end and after much thought, Larry and Jeanette decided to purchase the home ‘as is’ and revert to the original contract price.  To me, they always held such poise and grace in the face of a market where the advantage is slanted to the seller.    So, congratulations, Larry and Jeanette!  You made it to the closing table with smiles on your faces!