Case study: The neighbor relationship

I have been selling real estate for almost 13 years. I have encountered many different situations, yet I regularly find myself in unexpected situations. In such cases, I am forced to improvise, since there is no possibility of going back to a previous experience. I have never had the need to engage in a chess-like duel with a potential customer. That's not my style at all. I am an honest, straightforward person. But I'm not afraid of challenges, so I was like, if that's what it takes, then I'll put on the gloves and let's play!

Annamária was connected by an old client of mine, whose property I sold years ago. The three of us sat down in a cafe and discussed how I could help him. He has been living abroad for years, and now he will only be in Hungary for 2-3 months. You would like to sell a property in the 12th arrondissement. My eyes immediately lit up when I found out the address and parameters.

Brand new building, in the green area of the district, with garden connection. I thought it wouldn't be difficult for me. Of course, I drank the bear's skin in advance...

I excitedly got out of the car on the spot. I was greeted by a building in good condition from the outside. The elevator started down from street level outside. I have never been in an apartment building where the elevator opened from the street. Of course, it only worked with a key. There are many houses on the hill that, due to the features of the site, were not built up, but down. It's not that special yet. Exiting the elevator, we arrived in a narrow, dark corridor. The apartment could be accessed from here. The tour did not last long, because there were only 2 rooms on the 71m². A huge space with a living room with an American kitchen and an alcove, which had 1 wing door to the garden, and a separate bathroom hidden behind the closet.

As it turned out, it used to be a basement, which was converted into an apartment. My first question was, was it reclassified? Yes. A big stone fell from my heart. According to them, I'm dealing with an apartment with simply bad features. I can deal with this.

We discussed the strategy and details of cooperation. Annamária entrusted the sales entirely to me. He also gave me a key, and I was given a free hand.

When compiling the marketing materials, we considered the advantages and disadvantages of the property.

ADVANTAGE:

• excellent location
• A house built after 2000, which is rare in the area
• garden-related
• attractive price per square meter

DISADVANTAGE:

• bad floor plan
• dark (there is only one window)
• the garden is officially joint property

At that time, I thought that I only had to face these disadvantages. Later, two more "little things" came to light, but more on that later.

Since many people are currently looking for apartments with a garden connection, we clearly focused on this in the ad and video. Our watchwords were: small residential community, good house, excellent price and connection to the garden.

I think the materials and the strategy worked well. Within a month, I showed the property to 8 potential buyers. Several people showed serious interest. Then came the objections, and more and more new information came to light.

• everyone wanted to open a window
• they wanted to appropriate the part of the garden in front of the apartment
• it turned out that the apartment can only be accessed via the elevator. What if the elevator breaks down?
• undivided common property according to the title deed. When I sign an order, I always check the title page, and this is how it happened now. When I raised the issue with the owner, he said that it was being processed. I left it at that, I believed him. It later turned out that there is actually a division of use, according to which it is registered as a cellar. For this reason, it is not possible to take out a loan, which narrows the range of potential customers.
• several people were afraid of getting wet because part of the apartment was underground.

After the first month, interest dropped drastically. In the next 3 months, only 3 people viewed the property.

Azt gondolom ez 3 dologra volt visszavezethető:

1.) beköszöntött a tél

2.) az év végén drasztikusan visszaesett a kereslet

3.) I tried to filter the interested parties better, I shared more information with them

Since the sales did not progress at the rate required for the sale, even though we reduced the price, we decided to temporarily suspend the sale and wait for the good time when the garden can come to the fore again.

After a month and a half of rest, we put the property back on the market. We reconsidered the price and reduced it by 10% compared to the original advertising price. I have decided to change my approach and advertise even more actively and be completely transparent. This means that I have shared all the information I have with the interested parties in advance. I practically tried to talk them out of the property. I was like, those who show interest despite this, are really serious, they are the ones I should focus on.

Az elkövetkező hetek nem várt fordulatokat hoztak. A szomszéd megkereste a tulajdonost és tett neki egy pofátlan, -33%-os ajánlatot. Természetesen ezt Annamária élesen elutasította. Megmondta a szomszédnak mi a végső ár, valamint összekötött bennünket. Meg is keresett és még aznap megmutattam neki a lakást. A mutatás során több megjegyzést is tett az ingatlanra, annak jogi helyzetére is, amit egyébként tökéletesen ismert. Emlékszem az első megjegyzésére, amikor beléptünk az ajtón:

Her: Do you also smell doh?

Me: I don't feel anything. No one lives in the apartment and it is not ventilated. It has a stale smell.

Him: I'm sensitive to these things. I think there must be mold somewhere in the apartment.

Me : There doesn't seem to be any problem, but if you're worried about it, feel free to get a professional to check it out.

When we filled out the viewing papers, the neighboring viewer noticeably tried to get us to his side. He drew my attention to the problems related to the property, tried to convince me why the apartment is not worth as much as we are asking. I assured you that I will provide you with all the documents at my disposal so that you can make a careful decision.

After the meeting, I felt that he could be our customer, so I started thinking about how I could motivate and advance his intentions. I had the idea to put up a for sale sign. If the neighbor saw that I was actively involved in sales and could bring a few interested people, he wouldn't think so much. I discussed this with the owner and he agreed with me. Before I put up the sign, I asked the joint representative for permission. This was necessary because it was only possible to put it on the common fence of the house.

When I went to show the property a few days later, I noticed that the sign was turned down and the inscription was not visible. I fixed it. A few days later, I went to show it again, and the sign was damaged again. From then on, it became clear to me what I was up against.

I wrote the following message to the neighbor:

Me : Someone damaged the for sale sign I put on the fence for the second time. Any idea who it could be?

Him: I have a tip. But there is no information.

Me : Thank you if you talk to the person you are tipping and ask them to contact me if they have any problems.

The day after the exchange of messages, I took two interested people to the apartment. We went down with the first one, had a look, they had a lot of questions, so approx. We spent 30 minutes in the apartment. I call the elevator. Nothing. I wait a bit, call again, nothing. My first thought was that someone must have been shopping and packing. After 10 minutes, the elevator refused to move, and the tantus fell.

The neighbor told us during our meeting that last time his wife was stuck in the basement and had to climb out through the English manhole. Good thing he had his phone with him. Tutira holds a demonstration and takes the elevator because he saw us there. I picked myself up and went up to his apartment through the garden. I saw you on the phone. I knocked. When he saw me, he pointed to his phone, he had an important call. I motioned for him to come over. He reluctantly opened the door. There is a problem, the elevator is not working. Would you mind letting us out through the garage? He let us out. I thought we failed this client.

The next one was already waiting for me with my colleague. I call the elevator, it still doesn't work. I call the neighbor. The fact is that I want to show the apartment to someone else, but the elevator does not work, let us in through the garage. He let us in. I got a bit upset, why is there a need for such childish games?

I told the interested party the situation, what could be behind it. They took it pretty well, they just laughed the whole time. When we finished, the elevator was still not working, so we left through the garage. The neighbor left it open for us. I wrote him a thank you message from the car and told him that we were done.

It was one of the most bizarre experiences of my life.

Two days later, the neighbor verbally indicated that he would give the price requested by the owner. My colleague called me the same day, his client would be interested in the property, they would like to make an offer. They wrote down a HUF 500 higher offer, for example the neighbor's verbal offer. After that, the neighbor offered HUF 1 million.

I told him that we can only accept his offer if he makes it in writing. Of course, he made up all kinds of things to pass the time. Your lawyer needs to look at our form, talk to your banker, etc. I even got an interesting phone call warning me not to mess with this client because he moves in high circles. I explained that I wasn't having fun, I was following the rules. He wrote down the offer with great difficulty.

Then came another twist, the other customer once again recommended the neighbor. I call the customer to let him know - he was not thrilled. He even threatened me covertly. In the end, the owner decided to sell it to the neighbor for a little less, because he is fully aware of the situation of the property, and he did not want any further problems for himself, he wanted to close the case without any problems.

Fortunately, this is not a typical story. Thank God it's already closed.

I will definitely remember it for a long time...