You’ll remember the lesson learned in Part 1: Residential real estate exists in its own strange world in which anything can happen so don’t hesitate. If you see it and like it, buy it. And if you receive a good offer for your home, take it.

But residential real estate is SO strange that you need to expect the unexpected and be prepared to react. Take what happened to my clients several years ago as an example. Let’s call them Betty and Bill. They’d been looking for a new home for about 2 years. (Which isn’t at all unusual when you take into account that it was a seller’s market, they had lost out in several bidding wars and they were patient and had particular tastes, just like many of my other clients.)

One day, Bill called me about a home he remembered driving by that was no longer on the market. Being the honest agent that I am and not wanting to go behind another agent’s back, I called the former listing agent and left a message asking if my clients could see the home. She didn’t return my call so I called again a few days later and left another message. She didn’t return that call either so I decided to call the sellers directly. I felt badly about doing this, but it wasn’t as if I had an obligation to call the listing agent because the home was no longer on the market. In calling her, I was doing her a favour. And in not returning my phone calls, she was being discourteous and unprofessional. Plus, my clients wanted to see the home and that was my first priority.

Mister Seller (“Mister”) told me that he and his wife (“Missus”) were still interested in selling their home and would be happy to allow me to show it to my clients, which I did. Betty and Bill liked the home and decided to make an offer. I met with Mister and Missus to discuss the offer. I can’t remember how many times the negotiations went back and forth, but they finally got to the stage where they agreed on price and Mister turned to Missus and said: “Okay, Honey, we just need to initial here and we’ve sold the house.” To which she replied: “What do you mean we’ve sold the house? I’m not ready to sell the house. What am I going to do with all my china and dishes? I’m not moving until I know where we’re going.” Can you believe that? Talk about the unexpected. And it wasn’t like Missus wasn’t involved in the negotiations. She knew exactly what was going on every step of the way. At this point, Mister was smart enough to turn to me and say “I’m sorry. I think Missus and I need to work a few things out. Can I give you a call?” Good for him. I probably would have been speechless if I was in his shoes.

He called me the next day to say that he and Missus wanted to downsize and needed some time to investigate the market. He then called me again a couple weeks later to let me know that they hadn’t found anything yet. He asked me if Betty and Bill were still interested and I told him that they were so he should keep in touch, but they were also continuing to look at other homes so he should hurry up and find a new place. During this period, Bill also called me. He said that he and Betty really liked the house and wanted to offer more money so Mister and Missus would accept their offer. I advised Bill not to increase their price because it was my opinion that Missus wouldn’t move for all the money in the world until she knew where she was going. As incredible as this may sound, this scenario kept repeating itself over the course of the next year. Mister called me every 3 or 4 weeks to let me know that he hadn’t found a new place yet and Bill called me every 3 or 4 weeks to say that he and Betty wanted to offer more money. And all the while, Betty and Bill continued to look at other homes, but didn’t find anything they wanted to buy.

Finally, after about a year, Mister called to tell me that he and Missus had found a new place. He said he was the only downsizer he’d ever heard of who was buying a bigger place for more money, but Missus was happy and that was all that mattered. Betty and Bill submitted the exact same offer, with the same price, which they had submitted a year earlier. Missus and Mister accepted it and the deal was done. Everyone was happy. The negotiations had taken only a year (which is not at all usual).

Betty and Bill did everything right. They saw a home they wanted to buy and submitted an offer. When circumstances prevented them from buying the home right away, they changed tack and waited. They didn’t chase the home and throw dollars at it needlessly. In the end, they got the home they wanted at the price they wanted to pay. Mister and Missus didn’t do everything right. They received a very good offer, but hadn’t done their homework and weren’t in a position to accept it. They were very lucky that Betty and Bill were still interested in buying their home a year later.

The moral is still the same: be prepared and don’t hesitate. But you also have to know when it’s better to hit the brakes and wait. And always remember that the world of residential real estate is a strange one and anything can happen at any time.