I have a bone to pick.

I’m so frustrated as I sit here at 7:30PM dealing with a sign-back on an offer, as well as the general buying public.

Maybe I didn’t get my afternoon Tim Horton’s coffee.

Or maybe I know I’m going to miss the entire Leafs game tonight…

It continuously boggles my mind how people think that the real estate market is here to serve them, and cater to their needs.

What I mean by this, is that such a large percentage of people I deal with believe that it is the market that is wrong, and not themselves, when they disagree with the price of a house or a condo.

Here’s what I’m getting at:

I just got a “cold-call” from a potential buyer (although this man was NEVER a potential buyer) for Tip Top Lofts.

I handle all the calls for the building.

This man asks me what is available, and I give him my basic rundown of the units available, prices, and a short backstory on the building.

He asks me, “You mentioned there’s a unit for $298,900?  How big is that?”

I inform him that this unit is 638 square feet. 

Then he says to me, “Nah, that’s no good. I need about 1000 square feet.”

“Ahhhh, I see,” I reply.  “Well, there are several units available at Tip Tops in the 930 to 1250 square foot range that run in price anywhere from $419,900 to $499,900, depending on what you’re looking for, and every single unit at Tip Top Lofts is different.”

“Well I’m sort of in that $298,900 price range,” he says.  “I mean, I can go as high as $325,000, maybe $340,000.”

Amid my confusion, I still reply, “Well, the next unit at Tip Top Lofts after the $298,900 unit is an 872 square foot unit for $399,500.”

“No, you aren’t getting me,” he says.  “I need about 1000 square feet at Tip Tops, but I need it in that $325,000 to $340,000 price range!”

Yeah, and I need H.G. Wells and his Time Machine to help me short-sell some shares of Nortel in November, 2001!

This is what really gets me.

When you go to Dominion and buy a 3-LB bag of carrots for $2.99, you don’t go up to the cashier and say, “Well I’m really looking for a 3-LB bag of carrots for $1.79.  I see there that I can get a 1.5-LB bag of carrots for $1.79, but that doesn’t interest me.”

I told this “potential buyer” that prices for 1000 square foot units start at around $425K, and he replied, “Well that’s ridiculous!  I know I can get 1000 square feet for what I’m willing to pay.”

Really?

You can?

Then what the hell are you doing on the phone with me???