So This Is A First: Anyone Else Have This Happen To Them?

Question

So I have been working with a current investor client of ours recently to help him select a property to purchase from our company. I have sold him 2 homes over the last 3yrs or so and for the most part everything has been going well for him.  We have done very nice renovations and his price points are very good.

Here is where things get interesting.  I have been talking with him for the last 30 days or so on a specific home I have for sale he likes.  When I first showed it to him it was vacant. I provided detailed financials, over 25 pictures and even a short video tour of the home.

I get an email that he wants another local Realtor( who also sells investment homes ) to inspect the home for him.  This client has never done this before and honestly I have never had this happen before in regards to wanting a Realtor/Flipper to inspect for them.  After receiving the email request I replied and stated that now the home is rented out and to not disturb the tenants I would need him to put the home under contract and then he can have it inspected by this Realtor during his due diligence period.  He thought this was an odd request by me.

My big questions is: Should I have simply agreed to get this other Realtor in or should I stick to my guns now?  A small part of me feels like this is a little slap in the face as normally you would have a home inspector check out the home.

Looking for feedback, thanks!

Andy H. · Answer

Is your prospective buyer local or long distance? Based on the way you have described it (sending pictures plus a video tour), it sounds like maybe he is buying at a distance. If that is the case, I could understand wanting to have a third party walk the property and be your "eyes in the field." To me this would be no different than if he was local and walked the property himself before making an offer, which most buyers do.

Having bought properties at a distance myself and ending up with something that wasn't quite what I thought it was or was lead to believe it was (specifically regarding the neighborhood the property was in), I can understand  wanting to have someone preview a property for me. However, if he has been discussing the property with you for 30 days now, I would have expected him to have made a request like this a lot sooner, like while it was still vacant.

If by "inspect" he means more like a home inspection, then agreed that that usually comes after you are under contract and during a due diligence phase.

Perhaps you should talk with him and try to find out exactly what he is trying to accomplish and understand why he is doing things differently this time around. If buying from a distance, it sounds like he has some reservations about the process. Maybe he had a bad experience buying long distance before (not necessarily with you), and is trying to avoid it happening again. Been there.

William Hochstedler · Answer

Hey @Curt Davis

Client facing, I would be very accommodating.  Remind the client that offering price does not include a buyer side commission, but welcome him to have any third party he likes contact you for a showing and a second opinion.

Realtors have killed more deals for me than any other single source (by a long shot), but you already know the transparency drill in the turnkey biz.

Bit of a bummer.

Curt Davis · Answer

Thanks for all the feedback.  I will most likely try to work it out with this client and get this Realtor in the home to check it out.  It guess at this point he will either continue to do business with me or will go elsewhere.

Thanks!!

Amanda Hensley · Answer

Unless the competitor realtor that this client has hired spins his review of your property in such a way to downplay the home in the hopes of pulling this client from you.  I'm not saying that WILL happen, but people are not always ethical.  I don't think that should change how YOU do business though.  If you are selling a quality product, another buyer will come along.

Randy E. · Answer

Thanks for the response, @Curt Davis.  Part of me understands your trepidation about this.  However, a larger part of me doesn't.

You buy houses, rehab houses, and sell a fine product to an end user investor.  What can another realtor do to harm your business simply by walking through one of your finished products?  Ford doesn't care if Chevy test drives its cars.  McDonald's doesn't care if Wendy's eats a burger.

Look at it this way.  1)The buyer has already decided to leave your for this competitor but the buyer wants the other realtor to see your product so the realtor will know what to do on their job together.  Or, 2) the buyer truly just wants to get a second opinion from someone in the business.  If this is situation #2, you still have a good chance at completing the sale, but refusing this request will probably reduce that chance to zero because the buyer will lose more trust in you.

If you know you have a good product, let your buyers bring in all the boots on the ground second pair of eyes they want to bring.  They'll see what you already know -- that you are selling a good product and that you have nothing to hide.

Good luck, Curt.

Curt Davis · Answer

@Randy E.

I can see your point.  This is a Realtor who also does what I do regarding a TK model.  I would feel better if he had a home inspector look at it.  I am guessing he is just paying this Realtor a small fee to check it out.

Franklin Romine · Answer

@Curt Davis

I think your actions are correct.  Someone  is feeding him information to dought or trust you.  I would just keep follow up with him.

Frank

Randy E. · Answer

@Curt Davis, if he's a long distance investor, I fully understand his request.  He simply wants another pair of eyes to look at this for him.  Sure, he has your word about the quality of the product, but you're the guy selling the house to him and he'd be foolish to go solely on your word.

Instead of looking at it like a slap in the face or a sign of disrespect (which are the only quasi-polite reasons I could see for you to refuse his request,) look at it that he's a careful investor performing his due diligence before spending a lot of money to buy something he hasn't actually seen.

Honestly, I don't see the harm in allowing a realtor to check out the property.  Maybe the realtor will be impressed with the quality of your work and your prices, and end up steering more business your way.  It could be a win-win-win situation.

Larry P. · Answer

I would tell him that if he wants to do this to coordinate it through that realtor.  When he says "inspect" I wonder if he is talking about a walk through or an actual inspection?  Here in Texas the actual "inspection" would only occur after the home is under contract and in the specified option period (typically a 7 or 10 day period that the buyer pays an option fee for to the seller and the inspection would have to be carried out during this time period).  Additionally here a person doing a home inspection would have to be licensed by the state to perform home inspections.

So This Is A First: Anyone Else Have This Happen To Them?

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