Your Tenants Might Have Cost You an Easy Sale

"Easy to show" were the first words in the MLS description. I like that. I like it even better when it's the truth. Unfortunately, that was not to be the case for this home.

I called Tuesday afternoon to try to set up a showing for Wednesday morning. No dice. The tenant informed me that they have guests in town for SXSW. Would Wednesday evening work? No. My clients weren't available. They saw two other listings, and bought one of them. They are cash buyers, investing in multiple homes (they've bought 4 properties with me so far). Still, they wanted to see the aforementioned place as a possible additional purchase. I called again Wednesday afternoon, and left messages with both tenants to see if we could set something up for Friday around lunchtime (I offered anything in the 12-1pm window).

Again, no.

They called me back late this morning, asking if we could come Sunday afternoon instead.

Nope.

I am busy that day, and so are my clients. They are local, but they're leaving town Monday for about a week. I asked if there were any way to see it later in the day tomorrow, or perhaps in the evening. She launched into a tirade about how she had informed the listing agent that they would have friends visiting this week, and how hard it would be for them, since they both work. I said, "I guess he should have waited until next week. It sounds like it would have been easier for everyone." She misunderstood me and argued with me - "HOW IS IT EASIER?!?" I have to admit that I raised my voice, mainly because I don't suffer fools gladly.

I called the agent and respectfully suggested that he remove the words "Easy to show" from the description. Apparently, he had already done so, because he realized just how difficult the tenants were being. He admitted that they had "freaked out" when they started getting tons of calls upon listing the home.

I don't have a lot to add to this one - the moral is clear, it seems. I can't guarantee that my clients would have purchased this place, but I do know that they could have done so, and it would have been a fast closing for both parties.

We'll find another one.
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