Good Will Hunting

 A friend contacted me yesterday. She wanted to know if the purchase contract expressly forbid the buyer and seller to talk to each other. 

Sigh. It doesn't. But how I wish it did. 

In almost 18 years of selling real estate, I can tell you I have yet to have a good experience where the buyer and seller decide to talk. Nope, not true. There is one exception.  One time, the seller said, "I will make no repairs. You can't make me." But then the seller insisted on being present during the buyer's home inspection. As the home inspector pointed out minor issues, the wife-seller said, "oh... that's terrible." and the husband continued to offer to fix the broken whatevers. In the end, the sellers fixed lots of extraneous things that the buyer wasn't really planning on asking for, but since the sellers offered... By the way, that was the first house I ever bought (1998). My agent was thrilled. I learned later the selling agent was furious. 

However, I have seen deals, where things didn't go very well. One time the buyers and sellers worked out the terms and conditions of the contract right in front of each other and then shook on the deal. Right after that, the seller asked the buyer what ward they belonged to. The buyer said they weren't Mormon. Then, when we submitted the offer in writing--the same offer the seller had agreed and shook on an hour earlier--it was flat-out rejected. 

Very early in my career, I was representing Mr. Ex-Partner on an investment home. He went behind my back and convinced the seller to allow his future tenants to move into the seller's home before he owned it. The owner did not pick the tenants and I doubt Mr. Ex-Partner even screened the people he picked to move into the house. Nor, did I know Mr. Ex-Partner even pulled this stunt at the time. Then the house didn't close on time. In fact, it didn't close for an additional month, and the seller was now a landlord and wanted money. Guess who was on the hook for Mr. Ex-Partner's antics? Even though I wasn't involved and didn't know at the time, I darn near lost my license over this and in the end had to forfeit part of my commission to make this all go away. 

Then there was the time another buyer of mine called the seller and asked if they would change the terms and conditions of a (very reasonable) contract. Why? Because my clients felt like they weren't getting a good deal. Actually, they were getting a fabulous deal. The seller was offended the buyers asked, suspicious if there was an ulterior motive--there wasn't. The buyer just read somewhere that agents are useless and thought they could do better (after the contact had been signed). When the buyers then asked for a few modest and necessary repairs, the seller went through the roof and all bets were off. There have been very few occasions when I have had to work for clients where I wanted the other party to prevail. That was one of them. Oh, by the way, the buyers ended up walking away from the house and the sellers got more money for their home in the end. 

One of the reasons I meet with my buyers prior to looking at homes is because I want to make sure they fully understand: this is a business deal. Contracts are for the times when things don't go well. Wanting the other party to like them is all well and good when everyone is happy. But there is no good will clause in the purchase contract. But more to the point, it is always best to just stay away and let the agents do their jobs.