The other day, a favorite colleague asked me to help her price a house. She would be competing against two other top agents. She was psyched!
So we drove over to the house in a less than chic DC neighborhood. The seller had purchased it two years ago, and was a fixxer upper. It needed a whole lot of fix.
When we got there, I noted beautiful landscaping, but peeling paint on the trim. Inside, there was peeling paint, a funky kitchen, bathrooms that looked like instant athlete's foot, a 50 amp breaker box, and the list could go on and on.
At least there were no mice. But then, they probably succumbed to lead poisoning from all the peeling paint.
The seller was feeling some duress. She's lost her job, and even if she won the Power Ball, she might not want to spend her winnings renovating this place. She didn't overpay originally, buy she's spent a lot already, and she hasn't even gotten to the electrical upgrade! To get her money out, she would probably have to sell it for more than she is likely to get in this market.
As we walked out, I noticed red bumps on my ankles. Oh, yes, there was a kitty litter box in the basement, and while it didn't reek, little Fluffy's fleas were in evidence.
On our way back to the office, I realized this colleague was a far better agent for this seller than the other two super stars she was competing against.
But, I had to ask myself and my colleague, "Do you really want to list this place?"
I remembered some of my own listing disasters where I was so into winning a competition against some colleague I perceived to be a super star that I pulled out all the stops to get a signature on the dotted line for something that was going to be the listing from hell! I mean, I am pretty impressive when I want to be.
I beat out a really smart colleague, or did I?
So, I might save a colleague I really like and respect from a listing with a nice, but needy seller, who has no money available to stage the place or even to remove the peeling lead paint that is killing the neighborhood mice. And even if she finds buyers, they are likely to be scared off by any self-respecting home inspector.
So, as in love, it's not about just the chase! It's about the life you have after you grab whatever you are chasing!
And the fleas!
