I recently received an offer on one of my past listings from a “protected buyer.” The sellers are no longer together but are still tied to one another because of this house.
Both told me individually that it’s time to move on — that they needed to be done with this. I could hear in each of their voices the “wear and tear” this house was putting on them. You can’t help but feel for them.
The parties in the transaction were far apart on the price, and it was easy to see why. It’s simply a difference in perspective. One sees the dated kitchen, the dated baths, the old windows, and the oil tank in the basement. The other sees the the financial ramifications of accepting an offer any less than their “bottom line.”
I can’t help but feel for both parties. Here are two buyers who love the house enough to come back months after seeing it to put in a bid, and two sellers wanting to move on with their individual lives but held back because of financial constraints.
Circumstances like this are something I have yet to “get used to.” My heart goes out to those who see the equity in their home disappear but continue to pay the mortgage on time. And when a broken relationship is added to the mix, the situation becomes even heavier.
But it is also in circumstances such as this that each person has to decide for themselves the value in being able to move on. Is it worth bringing some money to closing to get the deal done? Is it worth talking to your lender about a possiblel short sale to allow each of you to move on? What is having the sale of this house behind you worth to you?
I wish I had the answer for any of my sellers faced with this. The answer, though, is within each of them — only they know, in their heart of hearts, what they are willing to do to close this chapter and start living the next.
