When the homeowner only wants to "deal with you"

[Rae Hoffman]

Curious how y'all handle homeowners that don't want to deal with anyone but you personally LOL. I have a house I put under contract I'd debated assigning because I'm really busy right now (if not, I'll close on it, no issue), but the owner basically doesn't want people going through his house. I'm pretty much it as far as who he wants in there LOL. He wants to sell to me personally.

Anyway, I guess my post is less about this specific contract, but as to if y'all come upon situations like this - and how you deal with them. This is the second off-market seller in a row I've had who signed an and/or assigns contract, but refuses to deal with anyone but me personally as far as access to the house (aside from allowing my contractor in with both myself and the seller there).

I assume it's hard to assign a contract on a house, even with great numbers, that you can't really show (though feel free to correct me if I'm wrong). I was thinking maybe taking detailed photos AND video as I do the walk-through? Any other ideas?

[Josane Cumandala]

I have not dealt with this situation personally so take my advice with a grain of salt but I'm an appraiser by trade and I would never go into contract with someone who will not allow other real estate professionals into the property. On some level I understand not wanting to deal with a broker, and it appears to me the majority of sellers who try to side-step the realtor do so because they believe they are the experts and that their property is worth a whole lot more money than it really is.

If the seller will not grant access to say an appraiser or a home inspector as part of your due diligence I would have serious reservations about buying the property. If you are not a seasoned contractor or home inspector yourself a video or photos are not going to tell you the whole story about the condition of the property. Even your contractor if he suspects there's an issue somewhere in the home won't be able to fully assess the situation and the cost associated until they go behind the walls or under the floors and see what's going on - which of course won't be possible until you've already closed on the property I take it.

Do you really want to take that risk? How do you really know the numbers are great if you don't have the pertinent facts? The seller has little incentive to tell you about deferred maintenance, liens, title issues, or other problems associated with their property. Just like a realtor, their goal is to sell for as much as they possibly can.