When To Walk Away
How Much is My House Worth?
Here’s a quick online tool to help you.
What Would My Mortgage Payment Be?
An online calculator to help you.
In the wake of the 2008 Housing/Financial crisis, we got used to low interest rates and before 2022, they just kept getting lower. How low could they go? Maybe the bank would pay us interest if it got any lower (yeah right).
Of course they’ve almost tripled since and the music of the housing market has died down considerably.
As I’ve said before, it’s helpful to see ourselves in a crash now; not one of prices but of inventory.
Houses are still selling. Closings happen everyday. Bidding wars flare up here and there.
But many would be buyers and sellers are continuing to sit this market out.
If you’re wondering if you should do the same, or if it’s a good time for you to enter the market, I’d be happy to help you run the scenarios,
When To Walk Away
Sometimes one of the smartest reasons to hire a real estate broker is to make sure you don’t accidentally walk away from a deal you really want to have happen.
My philosophy is simple quite simple… buyers and sellers actually want to buy or sell and my job is to help my client buy or sell. But sometimes anger, pride, fear, the ambiguity of a house inspection, the emotion of the deal, the stubbornness of the other side can get in the way of the larger goal of buying or selling. And if we’re not careful, we lose out on something that would’ve been actually really, really good.
That being said, there are times when my clients have decided, or I’ve advised them, to walk away from a deal. Not everything works out.
However, most of the time, most people want the deal to happen and a good broker’s job is to not be angry, prideful, fearful or emotional, but to be calm, informative and to see it all through to the end.
Of course, when you’re talking about a house with hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars on the line, t’s perfectly reasonably to be emotional about even minor details. When it’s my money or my house, trust me, I’m there too!
This isn’t rocket science, but the emotional element can cloud the judgment. I advise my clients to walk away only if I’m fairly certain they can get a better deal from someone else within the timeframe that fits their goal of buying or selling. Otherwise, it’s usually worth it to stay in and find a solution.
Walking away for other reasons, because the other party is a jerk or because of a lowball offer for example, can feel good in the moment but could lead to regret, which is not the emotion you want to feel when doing real estate deals.
I’m here to not only help you avoid regret but to feel excitement for the process as you realize your housing goals.
Michael Perrone is a licensed managing real estate broker in Washington State and is the owner of The Perrone Real Estate Group. You can reach his office at 425-224-6040 or by subscribing and responding to these newsletters.