Wow that felt good! Months of home tours and low ball offers finally over!

Long story short we finally got an offer accepted and they decide to walk for no reason 1 day before inspections.

Sounds like a case of Pre-Post-Partum Depression/Anxiety.

They don't want to part with that money.

People finally get what they thought they wanted . . . . and then don't know what to do with it !

Congratulations

Like a good poker player says, you have to know when to “Hold them” and when to “Fold them”

Seems like you feel good about your choice, so Congrats.

I have had a few of those. Sometime it's best to just cut your losses.

Kudos. All the time/effort that you were wasting on them can now be spent on more productive (and income-producing) activities. Best of luck.

Sue them for the commission. You did your part in the contract. Now they owe you the money. If it was a big enough commission to make it worth it I would be in court.

^^ I wouldn't take it that far, yes I did fullfill my end of the agreement(several times) They just called me this morning apologizing and told me they would like to buy in the fall. If I do sign them up again in the fall, I will do a retainer fee for sure!

Some people just have a hard time making the leap. Good for you for holding your ground next time.

We can charge retainer fees?

Yes Ariste, In Michigan anyway..

Sounds like a total waste of time! Congrats on finally breaking free.

Months of showing them houses?

Take control of your buyers, show them 10 or so and move on. A real motivated buyer shouldn't have to see more than that.

Congrats!

BigDreams

That's a killer, but the way to go, the old burned once shame on you, twice shame on me.

I still would have demanded a reason, a real reason when they bailed. As for the retainer, good idea, but too much paperwork. We in real estate are to used to working on a pure contingency basis. We don't have to do that. Just like an attorney we can take a case on contingency, or a set fee, or combination thereof.

I occasionally worked on a fixed buyers agreement. I had my set rate if we did biz e.g. 3% or whatever, but a clause saying 1/3, (or whatever the small claims court limit is) of that is due and payable upon their failure to perform on an executed contract...or expiration of the agreement. My real purpose was to help me separate tire kickers from serious buyers upfront when there was a big question mark in my mind or a little voice nagging at me.

My time is money, only my wife gets all she want for free. And in the old days too many flakes got too much of it for free without an honest reason to take it in the first place.

Now that I think of it, maybe I should put it into my regular buyer-broker agreement. I think I only skipped it because I liked the threat of a bigger hammer, 3+% plus attorneys fees if they played games.

The 1/3 upfront would certainly separate the tire-kickers - but how do you determine exactly what 1/3 is since there is no ratified sales price? Look up small claims codes and go by that? Don't know if a judge would like that idea; better to have an already established amount ($1,000, $2,000, whatever) so there is no confusion. I would think where there is doubt, to be equitable, a judge will side for the underdog.

Many first-timers barely have enough funds for an FHA downpayment. I would require a retainer fee (maybe $500?) upfront for this person (it can be credited towards any cooperating broker commission at settlement if they do purchase a home - if that relieves your conscience some). I've never asked for one myself yet; although I do have a penalty in my listing agreement if a seller wants to end the agreement before the expiration date. But, a buyer retainer won't be far behind b/c it's become too costly being in business lately.

Our standard Buyer Representation Agreement has a section where you can add a retainer or whatever you want to call it.

But, what if there really isn't a "good" home available yet for the buyer? Sometimes it takes awhile for the right home to come along; but, those who are always offering lowball prices and never accepting a counter, in my opinion, aren't really serious because they can always back out of the deal if they have a home inspection and use that as their parachute. Their hoping to buy the world on a dime.

I think many of us have had a client or two that we were relieved to see go. I had one who I worked with for several months. I was so sick of her. I stopped calling her, but, I see she did buy a home two months after that, but not through me [thank goodness].

I have an "invester" wannabe who keeps emailing me about cheap, cheap listings; asking me to "research" his questions - he hasn't taken the hint yet - I don't work for free (and there are bigger fish out there to be caught). In a day or two, I'll email him the facts of life and real estate - the retainer fee - that should tell me something.

We're human beings and even we can only tolerate so much.

Perhaps we should take a poll of how many had a client who purchased a home through them but who never, ever want to hear from them again - not even to sell their home!

For those interested in a different perspective on real estate, and how some agents offer their clients a choice on the type and extent of the service they require, and when acting as a consultant, are able to obtain a retainer and charge their clients by the hour.

The How's and Why's may be learned at the following wrbsite:

https://acre.theconsultingtimes.com/uploads/coursebook02-11.pdf

Say Devil . . . . I thought you were in British Columbia, or the Vancouver area?