The other Inga and Liam Story

So Liam was hell-bent I sell his house for $240,000 and not a penny less. I showed him comps and explained it just wasn’t worth that much. Nor would he consider for a moment that it has a weird floor plan, deferred maintenance, hasn’t been upgraded since 1993 and the vinyl flooring is torn in multiple places and that also might affect the price. Liam disagreed because he heard from someone who was on Zillow that his house was worth much more than $240,000 and that was the least he would take. 

Inga was slightly more realistic and told me to price it at what I thought was right. We agreed (in writing) that if after one week she didn’t get an offer, we would lower the price. Inga repeatedly told me she needed the home sold quickly and not for “top dollar”.  I showed her the exact same comps I sent Liam, and explained she could probably expect $217,000 but I would be happy to go a little bit higher because it had a new HVAC system and new carpet. I listed it for $227,000.

We got a super-clean offer the second day on the market for $225,000. Liam and Inga both thanked me.

Then Inga fired me over the whole HVAC receipt and how she was going to prison debacle. Then, all of the sudden, Liam starts e-mailing me six times a day. This is significant because I hadn’t heard from Liam at all since the house went on the market and every message prior to these were polite and friendly. 

Anyway, Liam started sending me repeated e-mails: what did the house appraise for? Seems strange the house sold so fast? Was the price too low?  Is that why it sold so fast? After all, Zillow said… Maybe I was just running some sort of scam? No answer I provided satisfied him. He would not let up, and his phone calls, texts and e-mails were hourly if I was lucky, which I usually wasn't. It didn't matter that my answer was, "I have called the agent, and as soon as I find out, I will let you know." When I didn't answer he called again. And again. And again. And e-mailed me. His messages were each less than pleasant than the last. I turned off my phone finally and he called Jane. 

May I just stop here: I am paid when a sale closes. I am paid a commission as a portion of the sales price (which Jane is taking a chunk of). So a higher price means a higher paycheck for me. I have everything to gain if this home sells for more than I think it should. But I also believe that having a sign in the yard for months on end, just tells people the house is overpriced. Why would I want my name associated with that?

Anyway, generally the buyer’s agent doesn’t normally pass along the appraised value of the house to the sellers (especially if the buyer paid for the appraisal). But in this case, Liam was getting feisty. Then I started to wonder if I made a mistake. I consider myself REALLY competent on pricing homes, but gas-lighting manipulatives have a way to make sane folks second guess themselves. Besides, nothing was quelling Liam’s hourly insistent and thinly veiled threats that I dumped the house in a fire sale. 

The agent did share with me. The house appraised for $225,000. I wish it would have been worth more, for everyone’s sake. Liam can now rest easy and take his equity and spend it on something other than suing me.