When we last left them, Bobby and Sue had just bought their home. You remember following them on their home buying journey in Price, Location or House – You Pick don’t you?

One of the things we did when I first met with Bobby and Sue was develop a strategy for them. Bobby and Sue decided to buy first and sell later because they figured it would take a lot longer to buy than it would to sell and they didn’t want to risk selling first, not finding a new home in time and having to rent or move in with relatives. As I do with all my clients who decide to buy first, I encouraged them to speak to their mortgage broker or banker to make sure bridge financing was an option in case their home didn’t sell in time. I also encouraged them to start getting their home ready for market so they could do so at a leisurely pace instead of feeling panicked if it turned out they needed to get their home on the market in a hurry.

This turned out to be helpful advice because after they bought their new home they wanted to list their home as soon as possible. Luckily, they didn’t have a lot left to do and were able to do so.

One other thing I always discuss with my clients before their homes go on the market is how they’d like to proceed if they receive a bully offer. It’s always better to determine this in advance rather than when you’re under the gun and have to make a decision under pressure.

Their home was listed on a Tuesday and offer night was scheduled for the following Tuesday.

It was a popular home in a popular location and it showed very nicely. There was a lot of activity right from the start. On the second day that it was on the market, three agents called me to ask if Bobby and Sue would consider a bully offer. Most agents make this phone call before going to the trouble of actually preparing an offer. I advised these agents that Bobby and Sue had instructed me that they preferred to wait until offer day because they felt that was the fair thing to do.

Then a fourth agent called and said “I have a bully offer and it’s a very good offer.” I explained to this agent that Bobby and Sue had decided to wait until offer day, but I would let them know about this offer, which was indeed a very good offer. Bobby and Sue also felt that it was a very good offer, and very tempting, but they had already told everyone that they’d wait until offer day and didn’t feel right changing their minds at this point.

I agreed that this was the right decision, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t get butterflies in my stomach. When you say no to a bully offer you run the risk of never seeing that price again and a bully offer price is usually a very attractive price. Bully buyers can change their minds and not make an offer on offer day. Or they could be the only offer on offer day and lower their price. I was sure Bobby and Sue felt the same butterflies. There’s already enough pressure when you sell your home so it’s not like they needed this extra pressure. Every day I wondered and hoped “Will those buyers resubmit their offer on offer day?” You’d think that after all these years I’d have learned to remain unattached to the outcome, but apparently I’m not that zen. (People often tell me that I’m always so calm, but that’s only because they can’t see the butterfly colony that lives in my stomach.)

Offer day arrived. I followed up that morning with the agent whose clients made the bully offer and was told that they’d be making an offer. Phew! What a relief. I emailed Bobby and Sue with this news. I could sense their relief in the keystrokes of their replies.

As the day went on, one offer was registered, then a second and then a third. We estimated there would be at least four offers because we still hadn’t heard from the bully buyers. While it’s always good to have three offers, there wasn’t a guarantee that any of them would be as good as the bully offer. There also wasn’t a guarantee that the bully buyers would offer the same price, but with three other offers on the table we figured there was a good chance they’d come back with the same price.

Then the phone call came. The dreaded phone call. Half an hour before offer time. The phone call that informed me that the bully buyers had changed their minds because of something with the house that they weren’t prepared to live with and couldn’t change. My butterflies went crazy. I thought they were going to fly right out of my stomach. I called the other agent, but there was no changing their minds – the bully buyers were out. I let Bobby and Sue know. I’m sure they felt the same way as me, but they didn’t show it. They had made their decision about bully offers before they listed their home and were prepared to live with the result.

I told Cole, my son, what was going on (without names or addresses, of course) and he said something philosophical like he usually does: “Don’t worry. They did the right thing. It will all work out.” Okay, Cole. If you say so.

A fourth offer was registered. Maybe, hopefully, one of them would be as good as the bully offer. We reviewed all four offers. Three of them were absolutely excellent and Bobby and Sue would have been thrilled to accept any of them under different circumstances, but none was as good as the bully offer so there was no joy in Mudville. One of the agents said that his clients wanted the opportunity to improve their offer. A glimmer of hope, perhaps? Bobby and Sue decided to give the three excellent offers a chance to improve because they were close in price.

Are you curious about what happened when the three agents returned with the three improved offers? Two of them were still lower than the bully offer, but one of them was slightly higher than the bully offer. Thankfully. The other two offers were still excellent, but once Bobby and Sue (and I) had seen the price of the bully offer, that became our target. Anything else would have been psychologically disappointing. Bobby and Sue accepted the best offer and were very happy with the outcome, as were the successful buyers.

So what should we take away from this? You know how I feel about bully offers. I was pretty straight to the point in Bully Offers – Just My Opinion. I think they’re morally wrong. But Bobby and Sue’s story shows a couple other reasons why they shouldn’t be permitted.

First, selling your home is a very stressful experience involving huge sums of money. Why should sellers like Bobby and Sue be required to make a quick decision that could alter their outcome by hundreds of thousands of dollars? And what about the buyers? Buyers who make bully offers have to move quickly. They don’t have a lot of time to consider the pros and cons of the home. What if they make a bully offer that’s accepted and then decide there’s something about the home they can’t live with and can’t change like these buyers did? There’s too much pressure on buyers, too.

Now that I’ve said everything I can think of saying about bully offers I’ll move on to other topics. Thanks for indulging me.

In the meantime, if you happen to know anyone that can use the kind of help that involves honest answers, straightforward advice, no pressure and being treated like family, please let me know the best way for me to connect with them because I’d like to offer them this kind of help. And as always, don’t be shy if you have any questions or comments about this post! Thanks for reading.