Honest, I Mean It

The subject header of the e-mail I sent to Marty yesterday said, "This time I mean it." The e-mail said. "I am quitting real estate. Forever."

It was mid-afternoon. I had already commiserated with Bliz (thank you!). I had just talked to Mrs. Hufflepuff, a broker, asking her for a read on my situation--her read was the same as mine (except for the part where she said, "Want to come work at our brokerage yet?"). And after pondering for a bit, I called the Arizona Real Estate Legal Hotline, a quasi-free resource for Brokers. In this case the lawyer I spoke with was surprised I was calling. Fair enough, I knew the answer, I just wanted a way to phrase it.

Here's the situation: Diamond Jim gave his son a power of attorney to handle the real estate sale. He did it for several reasons. 1) Diamond Jim truly doesn't understand real estate transactions. I know this from first-hand experience. 2) There is a suspicion, unconfirmed because Diamond Jim refuses to go to a doctor, that he is really not of sound mind. 3) And this was by far the most important reason, I wasn't dealing with him and his craziness if I didn't have to.

Junior has done a fabulous job. This week, an offer came in on his house, and Junior signed the paperwork. Diamond Jim is getting a lot more than he probably should for his home. All of this has been relatively stress free.

But, no real estate transaction with Diamond Jim is ever relatively stress free. Oh no. I can't have nice things real estate closings with this man! Instead, Diamond Jim got pissy over a few minor details. Most of the details have to do with the fact he has no control over the situation. I knew he would get pissy. He has with the last two sales he has had. In fact, the first time I sold a home for him he refused to sign the closing documents and then didn't move out for two months. In the case of this transaction, he decided Junior was mean and out to get him. So, he called me and told me to cancel the sale because Junior had been involved.

"I can't do that." I replied. Then I happily added, "You put a power of attorney in place."

True, but Diamond Jim can cancel the sale, even with the power of attorney in place. I know this because Mrs. Hufflepuff and the AZ Real Estate Legal Hotline told me. Plus, I learned this somewhere real estate school. However, if Diamond Jim cancels the sale, he will be sued for performance by the buyer. He will be sued by the buyer's agent for a commission. I probably won't sue him for a commission I earned because I know there is no chance in hell of him ever having the money to pay it. But I threatened to anyway.

Then Diamond Jim said a lot of ugly things about life in general, fired me and hung up. I wish I could say it ended there, but no. You see Diamond Jim did not know how to cancel the sale because he didn't know who the players were. Because I was fired, I refused to write up a cancellation on his behalf and I wasn't about to kiss his butt.

Around 5 p.m. last night, Diamond Jim called me, like earlier hadn't happened, asking how the sale was going. And then I laid into him. I will settle up with the Almighty later when he scolds me for my outburst. Truly, I understand Jim has an issue but there is truly no amount of money that I can be paid to deal with this bat-spit craziness. In my rant I also pointed out that he hired me to work in his best interests and we are all on the same side and perhaps he could act like we are working for a common goal. The offer for his home is amazing and he should be so lucky to have a contract like this one.

"So what are you going to do?" He barked.

"Nothing I am fired."

Suddenly Diamond Jim started figuring a few things out. If he goes through with the sale he has money. He also unburdens himself from this property. In the end I agreed to meet with him this morning. I brought Jane along as a witness. Diamond Jim insisted I stop working with his son. No. I will not. He threatened to pull out of the sale again. I explained that was his choice and gave him the phone number for the title officer. He circled around to: I wasn't to work with his son and only by doing so would he keep the transaction going. I shrugged. There is a power of attorney in place, so no. I will not abide by this. But, I conceded to let him sign his own documents (Junior can sign them legally in the background) as long as he behaved himself. I ended our negotiation telling him the following was non-negotiable: the next outburst from him and I was cutting him off and only working through Junior--though I really can't.

We left on good terms. However, as I was leaving he stopped me and said, "If I ever fire you again, just ignore it, Ok? I don't mean it."