Duplex for sale…. sold…. not

Might as well write about the ongoing drama first. The potential sale of my former home on the Sunshine Coast (Gibsons), which I bought almost five years ago, and lived in for only two years before moving back to the city (commute was unmanageable at the time) and renting it to friends of mine. Since then another friend has taken over the rental and although he pays $1000 per month in rent (with roomates) it isn’t enough to cover all the monthly expenses, not to mention repairs. So, it’s on the market, and listed at the low end of what such a place might go for (it needs a new roof and hot water tank, priced accordingly).

Although the place has only been on the market for three weeks, I have attracted some potential buyers who started out with the premise that my house was worth $40,000 less than its listed price – ie: that it was already stale and open to low-ball offers. That started on Friday. It is now Wednesday and while I have dropped my price by a fair amount (not underselling, but dropped to what I think is very reasonable from either side, particularly when compared to what else is on the market for the same price and value), they are refusing to come up the final $1000 to make the sale.

Now, I understand hard bargaining, but this experience has been the most frustrating set of price negotiations I have ever seen. Beyond starting low, they have refused to raise their offer more than $3000 at a time, which is nuts when you are more than $40,000 apart at the outset and the seller sends a clear message that they aren’t going anywhere near the low price. Then, when I refused to move down, they started inferring that the house might have mold and they were waiving the inspection and I should give them a better price because of it (the house doesn’t have mold, and it’s priced for the repairs it needs). I still refused to go down and offered them to make an offer with inspection included as part of the conditions. Then they finally got to $230 (which is where a reasonable offer would have started) and told us they couldn’t afford anything more. I dropped my price one more time (to $237) with the corrollary that I wasn’t talking anymore and was only doing it to end the discussion. They came back at $233 – clearly not getting the message from either agent that my price was firm. Last night the came and said they couldn’t afford any more than $235, that was their final price. Period.

And in some circumstances I might have accepted that from a buyer, if they hadn’t played sideways from the very beginning, attempting to drive the price much lower than anything else available in the Gibsons area, and in the very early days of being listed. (The closest thing pricewise I can find in the listings is a very decrepit trailer, or an 800 square foot 1-bedroom bungalow). But the fact is, I’m not worried about being able to sell my place, if not now – next spring – and in the meantime it’s tenanted so the expenses are mostly covered. I told my realtor to let them walk if they couldn’t find the additional $2000 – and an hour later they came back….. at (get this) $236.

Only a thousand dollars right? But I’m frustrated with them for wasting five days niggling around a few thousand dollars and offering so low from the start. And I didn’t spend two years on a negotiating team for nothing. If they walk away from it over $1000 it’s their loss at this point, real estate up there is holding steady and will likely rise again next spring – so it’s not like they are going to get into anything for less than what I’ve put on the table at this point.

It’s a little drama, but I’m getting impatient with the process. As much as I want to put an end to this back and forth, it’s not worth $1000 to me.