As I suspected, it looks like Mother Nature skipped over Spring and is heading right into summer. I couldn’t believe it was 67 degrees Downtown this afternoon. I didn’t get a chance to look at our extended weather forecast, but it’s likely predicting blue skies and warm days ahead.
A prospective buyer called around noontime yesterday asking if I had time to show her a home late in the afternoon. Since I already had appointments scheduled along with knowing she’d be here all weekend, I offered to show it to her anytime today. Just by the tone in her voice, I suspected she wasn’t pleased that I didn’t jump to re-schedule and bow to her wishes. Her response was, “I might call you sometime tomorrow morning.”
Again this morning, I had that “feeling” she wasn’t going to call, but I did make sure to have my cell phone with me at all times just in case. Just as I suspected, no call from her this morning or afternoon. I’ll have to call her in the morning to see what happened, but I’ll almost guarantee she’ll not pick up and let my call go to her answering machine.
There’ve always been those who truly enjoy pushing the buttons of others just to see how far they’ll jump and/or react. Over these long years of marketing real estate, I can still see and hear those puppeteers in my mind. Yes, I’ve sold homes to and for those who expect far more than just a good job done. One couple in particular comes to mind who’d moved here from out of State due to a corporate transfer. They had me out nearly every night during exceptionally cold winter weather for weeks, and all the while wanting to see just about anything and everything that was on the market.
Having interviewed his needs and wants prior to meeting with them, I pretty much had an idea what price range, and type of home would be of their liking. Our first outing was to show them three of the best homes I considered a good fit. And by the way, we spent more than the normal amount of time in all of them because they wanted to look at everything there was to see in homes here in one of the “Northerner” States.
If my memory serves me, I’m almost certain we looked at over 40 homes. Keep in mind, they had a broad price range in mind which went from fixer-uppers to high end. After there was absolutely nothing left to look at, believe it or not, they purchased one of the first three I showed them.
After the closing, they both insisted I go have a drink with them that evening, so I figured I might as well do a little socializing since I’d spent so very many prior hours with them. While we were seated at the table of that bar/restaurant, I said to the husband, “After all the crappy homes the two of you looked at, don’t you wish you would’ve purchased your new home in those first days instead of beating yourselves up by being out in such terribly cold weather?” I just about fell off my chair when he answered, “Nope! Even though we knew we were going to buy one of those first three we looked at, I still wouldn’t have had it any other way.” After all these years, I’d say he and his wife are still in the top five with my ranking of “puppeteer” buyers. You’d think after a while they’d get tired of playing such silly games.
Tonight’s one-liner is: It is man’s fate to outsmart himself.
