You hear these stories about properties being sold to buyers who “had a connection with the seller.”

Would a seller really take less money to sell to a buyer they liked?

Urban legend?

No.

But do these situations transpire on a regular basis?  Not likely either.

Consider the world we live in today, and consider the odds that a seller turns down $750,000 to sell his or her home to a buyer for $740,000, because that seller “really, really liked the buyer.”

People like to think this is a possibility, and buyers always ask if there’s a chance!  But it goes back to that miserable, awful four-letter word in real estate: “HOPE.”

We’ve all read about a story like this in the newspaper, but don’t forget that every journalist is out to find a situation like this and sensationalize it.  I’m sure that somewhere, some place, a seller took less money because they liked the buyer.  But in reality, it almost never happens.

That doesn’t mean, however, that a person connection can’t make some impact.

The idea for this post came to me about five minutes ago when I got off the phone with an agent who said, “I just called to tell you that my seller really liked you, and really enjoyed working with you, and I think you should tell your clients, from me, that their agent did a fantastic job in representing them.”

And it would seem, based on last night’s events, that this made all the difference…

But before I tell that story, let me flash back to 2007.

I was representing my younger brother and his fiancee in their first condo purchase, and I asked them to print off a lovey-dovey photo that I could bring with to the offer presentation.

You all know where I’m going with this.  You’ve all heard about somebody who brought a photo on offer night, and even though this sort of thing doens’t have much of an impact, and doesn’t really happen anymore, I did it – way back then.

I wanted to put a face to the names on the offer, and so when I opened up my folder with the offer, the photo of Neil & Lindsay was there.  I said to the sellers and the agent, “I’d like to introduce you to the lovely young couple who is going to buy your condo tonight.”

Cheesy?  Yes.

Impact?  Eventually…

There were seven offers on the property, and the listing agent called me and said, “David, good news and bad news.  The bad news is: you’re the second-highest offer.  But the good news is, my sellers really liked your clients.  They said that your brother and his fiancee reminded them of themselves!  They too were engaged when they bought this unit a few years ago, and the similarities were too obvious to ignore.  So they’ve told me to tell you, if you can come up in price, they condo is theirs.”

Now I know what you cynics are going to say – and I don’t blame you for being cynical.

“What a load of BS!  How do you know this guy wasn’t playing you all along?  How do you know you weren’t the highest offer and he didn’t use your own tactic against you?”

You don’t.  It’s that simple.  And you’ll never really know.

In this case, my colleague used to be partners with the listing agent, and a couple weeks later, he told my colleague that the tale was true, and we were about $2,000 lower than the highest, and coming up $5,000 got us the property.

But you never know.  You really, truly never know, and if the opportunity to “win” is presented to you, you’ll take it, and not question the validity of the back-story.  Your only other option is to say, “Thanks, but I’ll take my chances,” and risk not getting the property.

So let’s go back to my story from last night, where I didn’t bring a photo of my clients, but where my personal connection did make all the difference.

The property was listed at $919,000, and although everybody expected it to sell for well over $1 Million, there were only two offers.

I told my clients to meet me at the property at 6:30pm for a viewing, which I booked through the listing brokerage, even though offers were being presented at the house at 7:00pm.

My clients had just told me earlier that day that they were 4-months pregnant, so I wanted to get them face-to-face with the seller and the listing agent.

The agent and the seller were home, in the backyard, chatting away at the patio table, and we came out and made some small talk before touring the house.

We left at about 6:55pm, and the buyers and the seller exchanged “nice to meet you’s,” and we left.

I, of course, came back about six minutes later to present my offer, after having my clients sign it on the hood of my car.

Classy!

I went inside the house, and the seller asked me if I wanted a tea.  I said, “Yes, please, just black is fine,” and we sat down at the kitchen table and all drank tea.

Knowing that there was only one competing offer, I wanted to try and establish a personal connection.  Money talks, and the highest offer would win, but that didn’t mean that a personal connection wouldn’t come into play.

We chatted away about the market for quite some time.  The listing agent was from Burlington, and the seller herself didn’t follow the market that closely, so we discussed Toronto house prices, the condo market, investment opportunities, and of course – the market in Burlington as well.  My sister-in-law’s family lives on the same street in Burlington as the seller’s family, so the “small world” factor was ever-present.

I felt like they were never going to cave in and say, “So, shall we take a look at your offer?”

It was such a pleasant break from other offer presentations, ie. the one a few weeks back when the listing agent came around with a wire basket and told eight buyer-agents, “Place your offer in the basket, please.”  IT puts the lotion in the basket….

…stop me if you don’t get that movie quote…

I finally said, “Well, I guess we should get down to business, ladies,” and took my offer out for review.

We offered $961,029 – the 10/29 referencing October 29th, the date my clients got married, and then I went back to my car to wait and wonder.

I watched the rear-view mirror of my car for the other agent, as he hopped up the steps of the house, and then exited a few minutes later.

And then the listing agent called me and told me the good and bad news, “David, thank you so much for your offer, and thank you for being so pleasant with my seller – she’s really attached to this house, and so far she’s okay with the experience.  But your closing date, David, it’s not exactly what we’re looking for.  Would you be willing to change it?  Otherwise, we have to make a choice between two identical offers, and we’d really, really like to see your clients end up with the house.”

Closing date?  It was a no-brainer.  I waited a while, played it out, and made it seem like we were making a concession, but when I told the listing agent, “Okay, we’re good with August 19th, let’s sign ‘er up,” she replied, “That’s great, thanks!  I’m so glad you’re not forcing us to make a tough decision here!”

And you know what?  She didn’t ask me to add more money.

When was the last time you heard about a multiple offer situation where they didn’t feed you, “Your offers are so, so close, and it’s too close to pick one.  Thus we’re going to ask you both to improve your offers, yadda yadda”?

We changed our closing date, and I went back to the house to meet the seller and the listing agent.

The listing agent had a giant smirk on her face – like the cat that ate the canary, and she couldn’t wait to tell me:

“David, you have no idea how close you were.  Great strategy, whatever it was, because the other offer was $960,00 on the nose.”

Wow.  I’m good, but I’m not that good!  And for those of you who think she might have been placating me, well, she showed me the other offer just to hammer the point home.

We sat down to sign the papers, and the listing agent told me, “I don’t like multiple offers, you know?  The price-gouging, the games – I’m not a fan.  So we identified that we liked your clients, we love the fact that they’re expecting a child and they’d make this a good home, and really, David, we just enjoyed working with you so much.  We’re really happy that you’re the one sitting here.”

Irony would strike, of course, five minutes later, as the listing agent called the other buyer’s agent to tell him he had lost – and she told him by how much.  He went ballistic, and I could hear him screaming through the phone, “Are you kidding me?  You’re supposed to come back for a second round!  Don’t you know that?  My client would have paid WAY MORE for this house!  What are you doing?”

Hindsight sucks, doesn’t it?

This agent showed his true colors, of course, as he was rude, ungrateful, and really just a sore loser.

I made a personal connection, and he did not.

And I’d like to think, among other things, that this is why my clients got the house in the end.

Sure, we had the highest offer.  I’m not debating that money wins out every time.

But sometimes, the opportunity to have the higher offer is given to you, based on a personal connection, and a personal touch.

I wish there were more agents like the one I dealt with the other night.  Our industry would be a better place…