The “Straw” Buyer

One of the things that was an immense advantage for me as a brand new Realtor twenty-five years ago were the relationships that I built with others whom I met in training class.  There were about a half dozen or so of us who hit it off extremely well.  Coincidentally, we were all from different Fairfield County, Ct towns, back at a time when Realtors in this neck of the woods fairly much stuck to doing business within the confines of their own town borders.

First Listing

I took a listing almost immediately.  It was an investment property owned by two men, a local investor and an attorney who was the husband to one of the agents with whom I was in class.  Being a novice, I didn’t know much of anything, but the  market was relatively active and we found a buyer reasonably quickly.

Cause For Pause

Nevertheless, the pace of the economy was moderating, and the real estate market had just begun to undergo a slight downturn.  Soon after the building inspection on the home was complete, it seemed as though the buyers were experiencing a bit of buyer’s remorse.  It was late in the afternoon on Sunday, the week of the inspection, and throughout the weekend I had been negotiating new found issues with the buyers’ agent.

Cool Stuff

As I was about to leave the office I received a direct call from someone who said that he and his fiance were parked in front of the home.  They weren’t working with an agent and it seemed like “just the house they were looking for.”  “Are you free to show it to us now?” the caller inquired.  I responded that I was, and promptly drove over to the home.  They loved it, and stated that they would like to make an offer.  I met them in the office, and after they left I immediately called the seller to explain the details of the new found offer.  “Wow,” I thought, “The real estate business is exciting!”

I followed proper procedure as the seller asked me to relay the existence of another offer to the agent for buyer number one.  It didn’t take long for them to drop their inspection issues and proceed with the purchase.

Shock and Awe

Two weeks after the closing I visited my investor client to have a celebratory drink with he and his wife.  We talked about various and sundry things for about a half-hour when I heard footsteps on the stairway from the second floor.  Bob rose to his feet and I followed as he said, “Al, I’d like you to meet our eldest who came to visit us for a couple of weeks.”  I turned to shake his hand, and after my jaw dropped I could only smile.  It was the young man who had called me from in front of the home.  Buyer number two was actually a fictitious buyer.   Very exciting indeed.

Can you top that one?

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