BP asked if I had any other good stories (see thread "good reason to stay solid with a good agent") and I had some time this morning and thought I'd post this one. Sometimes you start out to make a little and end up donig even better.

Same agent as in the other thread, she calls me and says she's got an very stale MLS listing, has a poor credit buyer (my fave) and do I want to look. Make an appointment for a few days later (I was still working then and travelling). Place is pretty nice 2/1/1, brick, could use a day or so of clean up, touch up but is pretty decent, about 1200 square feet, MLS at $62K IIRC.

She says I can snag it for $55K since I'm cash, so I offer $40, we settle at $52. Three days later she mails me the contract and $750 earnest money from the buyer, mid '30s waitress and store clerk, about $35K/year. The sale price is $60K, $2K down, $300 legals and 2 months taxes and insurance to be escrowed with ME. IOW, my normal closing. We set the closing for 2:00 PM a week later at the Title Co.

On Mondy the agent calls, buyer has cold feet. "They say" you can't get into a house on deal like this, must be something wrong! No earnest money refunds from me, she bails anyway. I tell the agent "from now on the price is NOT $60 as I will now have the hassle of getting ELECTRIC turned on ($115 IIRC), Insurance (always a hassle in TX), the HUGE expense of running an ad in the twice weekly paper ($11.50) and possibly an extra 300 mile round trip.

After closing on Thursay the agent and I retire to a nice restaurant for dinner and a drink or 6 and she proceeds to tell me that with just a bit of elbow grease there's at least another $4-5K in the place. Two hours later, list in hand I retire to my motel, call my bride and start giving her a list of what to bring up, tool wise etc. Also told her not to take any of the phone calls.

At 7:00 AM I'm at Sutherlands, buying bucket, scrub brush, hose, 1 gallon exterior semi gloss. I hosed and washed the front of the WHITE brick, it is on a dirt street, repainted the TURQUOISE shutters and screen door, and R&R's the kitchen sink. At 11:30 my wife arrived, she mowed the front lawn and I trimmed the shrubs.

Between finishing the painting and my wife's arrival I started returning the calls on the answering machine, presecreening prospects. At 1:00PM I started calling back and setting appointments in order of prospects finances and estimated level of desire. At 1:45 PM we signed a contract for $67K.

Total cost,; about $100 at Sutherlands, $45 for the motel, $100 taking wife and the agent to dinner Friday, $70 dinner with agent on Thursday (more drinks that night than Friday), $10 for ruined decent pair of shorts painting in regular clothes.

Darn I miss that agent.

all cash