With Toronto essentially being in a seller’s market for the better part of a quarter century now, there is often fierce competition when trying to purchase a home. And as well as we all know, with fierce competition comes all kinds of trickery and tactics to try and gain an advantage.
A client of ours recently sold her charming old home in the Yonge and Summerhill neighbourhood. During the first couple of days it was on the market, she had received explicit interest in her house from a neighbour (who also happened to be a builder). This neighbour had already renovated another house on the street and was looking for a new project in the neighbourhood. Fair enough.
Then came the weekend public open house. With everything in place and the clock about to strike 2 p.m., loud blaring rock music could easily be heard from outside the home. And it wasn’t going away.
Ok, ok…let’s not be too analytical here. After all, it’s not all that uncommon to hear loud music during the middle of the day, especially on the weekend is it? Surely, this had to simply be chalked up as a case of Murphy’s Law.
Well….our client went to investigate the ‘source’ of the music. Sure enough, it was coming from the home of the builder who had previously expressed interest earlier in the week. Oh, what a kawinkydink. What better way to scare away other buyers then to make them think there are a bunch of rowdy neighbours? And if we know one truism about builders, it’s that to them it’s all about the bottom line.
So, let’s fast forward to offer night. There were two registered offers. One from a very young, but lovely couple. The other from *gasp* the Metallica-obsessed neighbour.
Both offers were extremely clean and above list price, and were relatively equal in all aspects. In situations like this, it is not uncommon to send both parties back to ‘break the tie’ if you will (something the builder was banking on, I’m sure). It must be said that it can be a risk to send both parties back, as they may decide to walk away from the table. However in this case, it’s a moot point.
Thankfully, our client was a smart woman of sound moral character. She was very business savvy but also voiced her displeasure with the neighbour’s tactics. She could have easily sent both parties back and potentially received a higher sale price. However, she knew that could lead to a conundrum of sorts, where she would be forced to choose between money and morals. What if the builder came back $50,000 higher than the young couple? That situation was not an unlikely one by any means.
Then our soft spoken client said, “I want to sell to the young couple because they genuinely seem so hopeful to live in this house, and I don’t want the builder to get it. Besides, it’s a very good price.” (The offer was approximately $70,000 over list). My colleague and I looked at one another, and grimaced ever so slightly. KARMA!
Although we were very clear to go over her options and discuss the different scenarios and consequences, we also expressed how impressed we were with her decision. It was nice to see someone stand behind their morals, even though it may have meant a few less dollars in her the bank account. You can’t put a price on peace of mind, and our client definitely achieved that in this deal.
But don’t forget the builder, either. More importantly, don’t be THAT guy. As someone who truly loves playing sports and competition, I value a fair and level playing field. Don’t try to sabotage someone else for your own personal gain. I often tell people to never burn a bridge if you don’t have to. You just never know when it’s going to come back to haunt you.
So remember…be kind, be respectful, and play fair. Or our friend Karma just might take you down a peg or two.