The one software company that I like has a great broker representing them.
My mentor and I met with him. My mentor was a little irritated because he expected the CEO of the software company to be there. He even brought his lawyer along. But the broker insisted that he meet with us first. Fortunately, the broker is blown away with my mentor’s credentials and what he knows. I took notes like crazy but I listened hard.
This is fun!!
I signed the paperwork this morning. Carolina came in early so I could sign my life away. How magnanimous of him.
The entire time I signed the paperwork, I knew I was going to back out. I had been told about buyers remorse but this was something different. This is not what I want. I want rental property. I want duplexes, four plexes, eight plexes . . . I don’t want a condo.
But I signed the paperwork anyway. I wrote out a check for $5k.
Right or wrong, I will do something.
God help me.
I decided to take control of the situation again. Carolina asked me
to come by his office to sign some paperwork. I called him and left
him a message, saying that I wasn’t going to sign any paperwork until
my offer had been accepted. This was ridiculous.
My phone chirped a few minutes later. It was him. I let it go to voice mail. I was too angry to get it.
My day only got worse.
Another friend wanted to see the condo. I got her into my car and
away we went. On our way to Long Beach, my phone rang again. It was
Carolina again. This time, I answered it.
Carolina: "Cliff, what’s going on?"
Clifford: "Carolina, I’m
tired of this entire deal and I’m not feeling good about it. You want
me to sign more paperwork yet the seller hasn’t said anything about
accepting my offer or not. I’m not lifting another finger until this
deal is done."
Carolina: "It’s done."
Clifford: "What’s done?"
Carolina: "The deal! The seller accepted yesterday."
Clifford: "And when were you going to tell me?"
Carolina: "I thought it would be a surprise for today."
Clifford: "Carolina, the deal of my life went through and you didn’t bother to call and tell me?"
Carolina: "I’m sorry. I’ll never make that mistake again!"
Clifford:
"I’m about ready to sign my life to the largest amount of money I’ve
ever seen. If this deal changes, I am to be the first to know. Do you
understand me?"
Carolina: "Yes sir. Can I get you to come in and sign the paperwork?"
Clifford: "I’ll be there Monday."
Idiot.
Oh, it gets worse.
We show up at the condo and notice that there is an open house going
on. There were two condos left: the one I was purchasing and one on
the bottom. Obviously the open-house was for the remaining unit. So I
figured this would be a great chance for us to get inside and get some
information. I knew Carolina wouldn’t be there so whomever was there
would tell us a few more things.
We fed a cover story to the lady real estate agent that was there. Our story: we were a couple, looking to buy a condo.
Why not?
Well the lady there told us a bunch alright.
First off, none of the units have been sold. None. Two had offers
and both fell out of escrow because of funding. Another unit (mine)
was in escrow at the time and the offered had been accepted. I asked
the lady if there were any other pending offers on any other of the
condos. Nope. Not a one. We had our pick of the litter.
I hate liars.
I cannot stand them.
Carolina told me that all the units had been sold. Plus, he told me
that there were other offers on my condo. You can call these sales
tactics if you want but they are lies to me. If you want to earn my
respect, be honest. I would have put in an offer on the condo anyway
because I thought it was a good deal. But this tainted the entire
process.
And here’s a news flash. The neighbors facing my front door? It’s
an apartment building filled with all kinds of boom boxes. I heard
them all. Mariachi music to hard rock to Indian music. It was so
stinking noisy, I could barely breath.
I have a sinking feeling in my stomach.
I was honored today to have coffee with my mentor. He had heard I was moving on a condo and wanted to talk with me about it. I was telling him about my frustration with Carolina. The deal wasn’t going as I had liked and I felt like I was out of control. And I still hadn’t heard back on whether the offer had been accepted or not.
Mentor: Cliff, you never lean into a deal. You always lean back.
Clifford: I’m unsure what that means.
Mentor: If you show too much interest, you don’t have any negotiating power.
Clifford: But the agent said that I could lose the condo-
Mentor: So what? You lose the condo. And there isn’t another condo available in Long Beach?
Clifford: You’re right.
He usually is.
I met the lender lady today. Really sweet. I brought her all my paperwork. Two years of tax returns, two months of bank statements, and my 401k information (what little there is).
My credit score is good.
Paperwork has been filed. She says she knows the lady who processes the paperwork for the state. I should have my loan documents sometime mid week.
That is excellent.
Things are moving.
