The One That Got Away...

UrbanTurf just posted this great article about "Heartbroken Buyer Syndrome." Basically, in order to make a winning offer, some buyers need to get their heart broken when they lose out on a property either because of multiple offers or they took time to think about it and lost out to another buyer. Buyers in DC often think that this is such a buyers market that they can take all the time in the world or ask for unnecessary concessions and often that is not the case. I've had a buyer go back and forth a few too many times on small price negotiations that the seller got exhausted and fed up and took the property off the market- deciding not to sell it at all! All of these situations are very frustrating for buyers and once they get over that property they have the motivation to make stronger offers next time. They will pay what they have to pay, not what they want to pay, to avoid the "heartbreak" all over again! On the flip side, a lot of sellers will refuse the first offer which winds up being MUCH higher than what they wind up with 3 or 6 months later.