Dealing with a game playing buyer

[Roger R.]

What does everyone think? I have a buyer in talks with me about purchasing my place in nyc. The buyer is a one of the larger landlords in Manhattan. I found the buyer on my own and they started in a rush. Now all of a sudden they have started slowing things down, demanding that I stop advertising the place; while refusing to sign the contract at the same time; locking in the deal.

I have a realtor that is offering to take the property on for a month with an exclusion on the buyer I found. Do I do it? Do I tell the buyer that I am doing it?

I’m a small operation compared to this guy. What’s the best strategy? All thinking out loud appreciated!

[Michael Ealy]

Originally posted by @Roger R.:

What does everyone think? I have a buyer in talks with me about purchasing my place in nyc. The buyer is a one of the larger landlords in Manhattan. I found the buyer on my own and they started in a rush. Now all of a sudden they have started slowing things down, demanding that I stop advertising the place; while refusing to sign the contract at the same time; locking in the deal.

I have a realtor that is offering to take the property on for a month with an exclusion on the buyer I found. Do I do it? Do I tell the buyer that I am doing it?

I’m a small operation compared to this guy. What’s the best strategy? All thinking out loud appreciated!

Roger,

If he really likes your property, why do you think he "slowed things down"? If there's no contract signed with earnest money with the title company, he is not really serious, isn't he?

No matter how "big" the buyer seems to be, if there's no earnest money paid, you don't have an agreement. A very wise and experienced real estate investor once told me that a verbal agreement is worth the paper it is written on. So, go ahead and list the property with a real estate agent. Tell this "buyer" but you got to be in control and putting cash down (skin in the game) is the true measure of how serious the buyer is - not how many deals he has done or how many units he has in his portfolio.