The private home seller

I met a private home seller the other day. I was out with clients and they added the stop to the list. The private home seller was talking too much. Trying too hard. His story seemed fine. He did not want (for some unknown reason) to come off as a house flipper.

But that is what he is and the funny thing is, I’m sure I’ve met him before, same neighbourhood, same story. Another year, another flip. I wanted to tell him that there was nothing wrong with flipping houses. I don’t know what kind of perceived stigma he felt there was.

I should have asked him if he had ever done this before – flip a house. I should have engaged him in conversation. But I didn’t.

He didn’t ask for my help. Who am I to offer unsolicited advice?

And, there were enough dubious and suspiciously unknown things about the place and my clients are really still at the looking stage, not the buying stage, that going a little deeper was not worthy of the effort.

I don’t have to know everything. Not under the circumstances. In real estate you become comfortable living in the grey areas of understanding.

Working with private home sellers

Over the ten years that I have been a realtor, I have dealt with private home sellers twice. Both were two of my very worst real estate experiences. So now I just ignore them. It is always a mistake to try to buy from a private seller. It is a lot of work and it is never worth the effort.

With so few listings on the market, real estate agents, those who were taught that you have to list to last, they are trying vainly to convince private home sellers that they will do better with a realtor than without. They are right. Private home sellers can’t get multiple offers and if they do can’t deal with them as well as agents can.

I’m sure there is anecdotal evidence that can prove me wrong on that statement, but I’m sure no one would disagree that private home sellers are awkward and amateurish and do not inspire a lot of confidence with real estate agents and home buyers. The one I met the other day certainly did not.