It may net the seller no different than your preferred offer, but psychologically they got what they wanted (full price). 

In the spirit of getting you to the finish line and cleaving off more properties from this "awesome lady's" portfolio in the future, below are some unconventional negotiation and behavioral psychology suggestions on how to manage the 'elderly man' tenant, and maybe other comparable situations in the future?

I got into real estate at age 40 with a degree in Psychology and 21 years of military experience in a combat field.

I personally never would choose this for anyone, I got a screw loose, I have been doing this since 15, by every measure of psychology I am an active addict, lol, but seriously I am, my addiction just happens to be a lot more positive than heroine or crack.

these are Wild times we live in for sure.We are seeing one in four acceptance rates for powerful offers.patience , perseverance and emotional control will be key to riding thru this.We have seen rephrasing of standard language that means the exact same thing work for sellers accepting offers.Not deceptive just creative marketing that worked for sellers psychology.

@James HamlingI saw an interesting idea brought up I think in two books, thinking fast and slow, and the psychology of money. 

There are countless other aspects to short term rentals (designing communications to please the booking platform algorithms, copywriting, the psychology of guest satisfaction, seo, knowing and understanding the platform policies to protect your payouts, etc) but it’s very intensive to truly optimize a property and that’s where a competent management company (with in-house specialists) would come in.

I've tried again over the last few years but I keep hitting a psychological barrier.

According to a new  American Psychological Association (APA) "Stress in America" survey of more than 3,000 people, two in five of the surveyed adults (42%) revealed that they gained more weight than they intended over the past 12 months.

Since they haven't and the government has to fix this perceived externality using their monopoly on violence in a give area, my incredible rudimentary understand of psychology and economics tells me that there is something amiss.