I used the question mark because I’m not sure if what I’m talking about is technically “guilt.”

Nevertheless, it’s worth discussing.  I still can’t get over it…

I’m not sure if what I’m talking about is “guilt.”

Maybe it’s better described as sorrow.

Or perhaps it’s sympathy.

Or maybe empathy.

I’d hate to use the word “pity,” but now that I think about it, I do kind of pity the two parties involved.

Maybe it’s not that bad.  Maybe it’s not quite pity, but I certainly give my head a shake, furrow my brow, question the intelligence of those involved, and then give a “golly gee shucks,” which I guess is a bit of all of the above.

Let me start from the beginning…

Last week, I had a listing in the North Toronto area, priced at $894,900, and it looked absolutely fabulous.

The market has slowed a little bit in the past couple months, and we’re not seeing multiple offers as much as we did in February, March, and April.

When I go on a listing appointment these days, I let the sellers know, first and foremost, “You haven’t exactly missed the boat, but you’re not going to get what you could have got in March.”  Honesty is the best policy, and I like to know people’s expectations.

We were at a point when the B- houses were getting multiple offers, and even some of the C+ houses too!

You could do the real estate equivalent of putting lipstick on a pig, set an offer date, and WHAMMO!

Not anymore.

Only the “best” properties get multiple offers today, and as luck would have it, my listing in North Toronto was an A+.

The home, for what it was (ie. it’s not a mansion, and isn’t made of gold), was the best of the best.  For a 3-bed, 2-bath, I’d put it up against any other 3-bed, 2-bath in the area.  It showed beautifully, and the sellers followed my blueprint to a “t.”

We received seven offers on offer night.

The house sold for $1,047,900.

But during the hour that it took to review offers, something amazing happened.

I call it “amazing” because, simply put, it amazed me.

It shocked me.

And it kind of disturbed me, to be honest.

I’m not going to disclose the terms of any of the offers, but consider that the list price was $894,900, we received seven offers, and the property sold for $1,047,900.

What was so amazing?

What made me feel a combination of guilt, sorrow, pity, and empathy?

One of the offers was for $894,900, with a $10,000 deposit (no cheque with the offer), and was conditional on financing and home inspection.

This is the part where my readers either thing:
a) Oh my god!
b) So what?
c) What a jerk.

What can I say?

I’m a realist, and if you’re thinking (c) then maybe I’m just too honest for you.

But let’s be realistic here for a moment.

There were SEVEN offers, and somebody offered the asking price.  Did that person think that the other SIX offers were all below the asking price?

The agent who presented the offer was a nice lady, and I honestly thought that she was just going through the motions for her bizarre buyer, and she knew the drill.

But as she proved shortly after the presentation, that was not the case.

Now keep in mind, we did a pre-home inspection.  The house was meticulous, and there was not a single thing wrong with it.  The home inspection was flawless, and not only did I upload a copy of the home inspection to MLS, but I left a stack of about fifty copies on the dining room table for buyers to take.

Why then, did the buyer need a condition on home inspection?  In multiple offers?  When NONE of the other six offers had a condition?

The buyer also had a financing condition, which is almost unheard of in this price point.  Ever heard of a “pre-approval?”

I was very nice to the agent who presented, very professional, and very courteous.

But I did ask her, “Does your client know he’s in multiple offers?”  She nodded her head, “yes.”

I asked, “Does your client know that there are SIX competing offers here this evening?”  Again, she smiled, and said, “yes.”

So I told her, “I don’t think we’re going to do a deal here tonight.  But I thank both you and your buyer for your offer, for your time, and ultimately for helping us to achieve the eventual sale price tonight.  I hope your buyer is able to find something in this neighbourhood, because it’s a fantastic area.  All the best.”  I shook her hand, as did my sellers, we smiled, and parted ways.

I thought that was the last I would ever hear from her.

But surprisingly, she called me ten minutes later, and said, “Can you please meet me in the parking lot?”

I came outside to find her buyer, who looked like he was 22-years-old, and his entourage – about four friends, all standing in the parking lot, looking disappointed and bewildered.  The agent said, “My buyer really want this house!  Good house!  Really good house!  My buyer want to pay more!  He ready!  How about twenty-thousand more?  We do a deal!  We sign!”

It was at that point (try and picture the optimistic smile on her face), that I realized she was clueless, as was her buyer.

Look, I’m not trying to be an ass, and I know I’m probably coming off as one.

I just don’t know any other way to explain this, so I’m going about it methodically, and with brutal honesty!

But consider the bullet points here – there were seven offers, this house sold for $1,047,900, and she offered $894,900 with TWO CONDITIONS!

What planet was she on?

I genuinely felt guilty for her own naivety.

I just didn’t understand.  How could anybody be so clueless?

For her original offer to have any sort of merit, the following conditions must have all been satisfied:

1) All of the six competing offers would have had to be under the $894,900 asking price.
2) Those six offers all would have had to be conditional on something; potentially on two things.
3) We would have to ignore the tiny $10,000 deposit, and accept the photocopy of a cheque that said “VOID” as consideration for the deal.

It was bizarre.

As I said at the onset: I figured this agent knew she was doing volunteer-work tonight, and she was just going through the motions.

But she wasn’t!  She came back to me and tried to make this deal work.

So here is my question: where is this agent’s value?

This agent should be embarrassed.

She didn’t know the product.  She had no idea that this house was worth $950,000 or perhaps $1,000,000.  Or maybe on a good day – $1,047,900.

She didn’t prepare her client.  She never got her client to do a mortgage pre-approval.  This isn’t the client’s responsibility; this is our job.  I hold my buyers’ hands through the whole process, and that includes getting them pre-approved, setting them up with lawyers, home inspectors, painters, movers, and everything in between.

She wasn’t competitive.  You can’t have a condition in multiple offers, let alone two.  It was both unnecessary and lazy.  There was a home inspection sitting on the kitchen counter.

She gave her buyer false hope.  I’d love to pay seventy cents for a dollar, but I’m not holding out for it.  Sometimes, the buyer goes down this path, and the agent does nothing to stop it, but I almost feel like the agent encouraged her buyer this time around.

As crazy as the buyer was to think he could be successful against six other buyers by offering the asking price with two conditions and being the only person to not show up with a cheque that night, I don’t fault him at all.

He hired an agent to represent him, guide him, advise him, and act on his behalf.

And that agent basically did the opposite of everything she should have.

I actually don’t feel guilty.  I just feel bad.  I feel sorry.

And I don’t feel guilty for telling this story either.  Even my own seller told me that he values my services, and my commission rate, because I’m the best at what I do, in an industry where 90% of the people are morons.  He considers my fee for service to be a return on investment, which it clearly turned out to be.  So forgive me if I want to share a story that highlights why buyers and sellers should choose their representatives carefully.

But in my mind’s eye I can see the agent’s smile as she gleefully waited for me to say, “WE HAVE A DEAL!”