Tag Archives: buyers

Required Reading…

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Another list of 10:

  1. Worth reiterating: Polly’s comments should be required reading for all agents (including the comments within the post about her comments! 🙂 ).
  2. Claudia Wicks lets us know about this “genealogy” site geared toward homes instead of people… The site includes maps, photos, etc.
  3. Also, are press releases still valuable? A quick search on Claudia shows that a recent press release she put out about being one of the Top Woman Real Estate bloggers dominates the coverage of her name on a google search. Fascinating.
  4. Artemi just emailed me to let me know that he just released a major upgrade to his real estate search site for England. The features that stick out for me are the simplicity, the tags for each property, and the natural language search (like the fact that the site also pre-fills in the search box with relevant tags). Great stuff…
  5. Interesting to read Jim’s perspective on the new website he is building with Ubertor. From what I’ve seen, the website definitely suffices as far as websites go, but if I was searching for an agent, I’d say his blog does a much better job selling himself.
  6. Searchlight had a follow up to their renting is for suckers article that describes some reasons a person should not buy a house. I can’t tell if they read my comment, but they clearly addressed some of the issues I brought up.
  7. Joel gives some insight into the art of being good enough…
  8. And then follows it up with news that Prudential is jumping on the Zillow API bandwagon.
  9. My take? Here are the ingredients for housingmaps style publicity: map. geocode. data1. data2.
  10. Jim’s worth noting column reminded me that I really wanted to mention DataPlace at some point. I saw a presentation of this tool at Where2.0 and was very impressed with the massive amount of neighborhood, demographic, socio-economic, etc. data that the Fannie May Foundation has manage to squeeze into their interface (and it is all free!). To give an overview, check out the massive amount of mortgage information available for the Seattle-Bellevue area or better yet, check out the map that I was able to easy build on post on my site of home ownership rates in the area:

Valuing Homes for Buyers

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[photopress:dartboard.jpg,thumb,alignright]To some extent buyers, especially first time buyers, encourage receiving inaccurate information with regard to value and other home details, by asking the right questions at the wrong time.

Sellers understand that it takes time to work on a valuation. Rarely does a seller call and say, “I live at 123 Great Street, what is the value of my house?”. I’d venture to say that no seller expects an agent to know the value of their house on the spot, nor would they want a two second answer. Consequently, valuing the home properly for a seller, within the framework of the seller’s expectations of the time it takes to give an accurate answer, produces fairly good results most of the time.

Buyers on the other hand encourage shoot from the hip responses fairly continuously. The normal process should be that the buyer view the properties selected by both them and the agent. The buyer should select one or more that they might like to purchase, and then ask the agent to take some time to evaluate and value those properties that they like best.

But that is not normally how a buyer operates. Often they ask all kinds of questions, as if an agent knows every property they are showing in great detail and with a large degree of accuracy. Certainly the agent can, and will if you encourage it properly, do all of the work necessary to know every property. But buyers seem to expect an agent to spend this kind of time on every property being shown before the agent shows the property and before the agent knows if the buyer is even interested in the property. By and large an agent is not going to study every single property he shows in great detail, as it would be a waste of time, especially for the ones the buyer hates at first glance.

When you first look at property, you should simply be advising the agent if you like it or do not like it. Then you should ask the agent to dig into only the properties you like and might buy, and find out as much as possible about those and also value only those. For as long as I can remember, many buyers will go from house to house asking questions like, what do you think of the price? Is it worth it? What is the age of the house, have they had any offers, etc… By asking a lot of questions about every single house, even the houses you hate, you encourage the agent to answer off the top of his head. This starts the whole relationship off on a bad foot. The agent doesn’t want to say I don’t know to all of these questions, but it is not reasonable to expect an agent to know a lot about every single property being shown. Next thing you know the agent is giving sloppy and often inaccurate answers to avoid saying I don’t know to all of the questions.

Asking your agent if the asking price is reasonable, is of course a very good question. But just as the seller gives the agent hours and sometimes days to come up with that answer, don’t expect an answer on the spot for every single house you are shown whether you like it or not. If you do ask the question, and the agent answers immediately without taking at least an hour or two to research the answer to that question, don’t be surprised if the answer you do get on the spot is a knee jerk, inaccurate answer.

By encouraging the agent to answer inaccurately, you set up a relationship where the agent continues to give you shoot from the hip responses even on the property you eventually purchase. Look at property from your perspective. Do you like it or not. Then ask the agent to research the properties you like. This will insure a more accurate valuation and more accurate facts. First the agent calls the listing agent to see if he has any offers and if so, what time are the offers being presented. If you have a few hours to get your offer in, and you usually do, set an appointment for a couple of hours later and ask the agent to research the properties in detail before you sit down to discuss the price and terms of the offer.

Often it is not a good idea to ask ALL of your questions before making an offer. If the buyer’s agent calls the listing agent and asks tons of questions like How old is the roof, Did they ever have water in the basement, etc., that buyer will not be given good consideration if there are multiple offers. Many questions, especially negative toned questions, should be asked after you “tie up the property” and most of them should be asked of the home inspector during the home inspection.

Sorry, I seem to have covered two topics in one there. Just following the normal sequence of errors buyers often make when viewing property and prior to making an offer. Often the seller is more negotiable with a buyer who loves their house, than one who is “kicking tires” from the getgo. Timing is everything. You should ask your agent all of the questions you may have and he should answer all of the questions including the ones you didn’t ask. Leaving the agent room to apply proper timing to obtain the correct answers, without alarming the seller or seller’s agent at the wrong time, can make a huge difference in whether you get the property and how much you pay for it. Once deemed a “difficult or squirrely” buyer by the listing agent, you will often have to jump through more hoops to get the property, if you can get it at all. Give your buyer’s agent enough room to play everything to your best advantage and don’t look at him like he is stupid, if he doesn’t know every answer to every one of your questions “off the top of his head”.

Why I like Zillow and Redfin by ARDELL

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[photopress:3ofhearts.jpg,thumb,alignright]I’m still scratching my head as to why agents around the country hate Zillow so much that they want to call it “Z”. Theory is that if they even whisper the name Zillow, they are spreading “the word” and helping it to become even more popular.

Zillow is a system of mathematical calculations, a tool that is easy and fun to use. So isn’t hating Zillow like hating your calculator?

I like Zillow because before they came along, all of the lead generators were about buyers. Buyers went there to look at houses and hit the big flashing “Find an Agent” button and were taken off to never-never-land where the lead generator collected a toll. Buying buyer leads has always been a joke. I can hardly go anywhere without hearing someone talking about buying a house. Every coffee shop, restaurant, the lady in line in front of you at the bank, at least 20% of the people at a barbecue…really. If you need to buy a buyer lead you need to look in the mirror and figure out why you need to trick people into hitting a big flashing button and pay for one. Time to hone up your skills and get a personality.

The innovation of Zillow is that every lead generator has asked that question: “How do we attract SELLER leads?” Even House Values knows that they cannot get enough seller leads, and they can sell them as fast as they can get them. There are more agents willing to buy seller leads from House Values in prime areas, then there are seller leads to go around. There’s a waiting list…I know…I’ve been on it for over a year. Every time they email or call me I ask…you have a seller lead spot available for 98033 or 98034. Answer is always no, but they are trying to sell me something else. Because attracting sellers rather than buyers is something the lead generator industry has been very lax at doing well.

And then comes Zillow. I don’t know what they are selling, but they clearly have the seller’s attention. Did Zillow get an Inman award for that? If not…Zillow now has the ARDELL award for innovation in lead generating sites. Don’t be waiting for the trophy, I haven’t gotten out shopping for Greg and Sharon yet, and you’re behind them.

Kudos to Zillow. Don’t know where you’re running with that ball, but kudos for putting a seller oriented site in play.

I like Redfin, because…

a lot of my past clients who came to me from blogging,

tried them first 🙂

How to Choose a Client

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[photopress:diversity.jpg,thumb,alignright] I have only one criteria when choosing a client. That criteria is very difficult to describe, because the best term to describe my favorite clients, I only know in the Greek language. I dated a Greek guy for six years, from the time I was 16 until I was 22. Whenever he introduced me to his Greek friends and relatives, they would lightly and quickly thump their fist on their chest and say

“kalu ka thYA” (emphasis on the YA). Generally, they were saying, “She has a good heart.”

When I meet a potential new client, I am actually interviewing them to determine whether or not I want to work with/for them. This can be a great business or it can be a miserable business. The difference between the two is the clients one chooses. Agents who view all people as “leads”, who think anyone wanting to buy or sell a property is a “potential client”, do both themselves and the client a great disservice.

My talents are best suited to people who need my “help”. To sellers who need to sell their home at the highest price they can get, and who are willing to roll up their sleeves WITH me, and get the house to its highest potential, spending little or no money to do that. To buyers who recognize that there are many potential pitfalls in the home buying process, and who want someone to tell them when they are about to make a mistake.

[photopress:winner.jpg,thumb,alignright] I have very little time for someone who wants to end up with all of the chips on their side of the table when the “deal is done”.

I have very little time for a seller who thinks his house is ready, because he shouldn’t have to do a thing to get top dollar and he can wait for “just the right sucker” to come along and fork over more than the home is worth, so HEcan WIN and THEY can LOSE.

I have NO/ZERO time for a buyer who wants to find some little old lady who can be tricked into selling her home for a great deal less than it is worth. (Yes, I have met people like that.)

All of of my clients are people raised with good values and who have a strong moral code, in other words…people who possess “kalu ka thYA”…”a good heart”. Once in a blue moon, I agree to represent a total bastard…but only because I feel sorry for his wife 🙂

So when a buyer or seller complains, “I guess they didn’t NEED my business because they never called me back after we met”, maybe the agent didn’t “follow up” because the agent chose you, not.

Sales that “fall apart” on Home Inspection

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[photopress:brokenmask.jpg,thumb,alignright]Tim’s Comment: “What many do not realize is the extent and frequency in which commissions are reduced via credits to the parties at closing. It is very common.’While Tim raised this subject as if these credits were commission negotiations, and sometimes they are, more often these credits are how agents help the buyer and seller accomplish their true objective. The true objective of a seller is to sell his house. The true objective of the buyer is to close on their new home.

Often during the home inspection negotiations, people get all upset. The buyer is really ticked that “the seller won’t fix…:and the seller is really ticked that “the buyer is being so petty as to want him to fix…” For many, many years, agents have used a portion of the commission to keep everything together and throw money at the problem that the buyer wants fixed and the seller won’t fix. With commissions being reduced, and so many agents paying referral fees and bottom feeder site fees and lead generation fees, there is less and less money available to keep these sales together, so more and more are falling apart.

It will be very interesting to see if the new business models that cut the commission down to the bare bones, have a higher rate of sales falling apart at inspection time, with not enough commission in play to fix what the buyer wants fixed and the seller won’t fix. The first time I saw an mls listing that required the buyer agent to submit the offer directly to the seller, one of the $500 mls only listings, the poor sellers were on their third round with two sales falling out of STI. They had even lost the house they were going to buy because of the failed efforts, and were on their third try at getting a buyer that would “stick” to the end. So my guess is the less money on the table to hold everything together, the more sales will fall apart.

When I negotiate with a buyer or seller, I make sure based on the type of property and price range, that I am not leaving the client so short, that the objective cannot ever be attained.

Top Ten Things A Home Inspector Says

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[photopress:top_10.jpg,thumb,alignright]It’s Time for another Top Ten! Those of us who have been to 100 too many home inspections can practically stand behind a home inspector and mouth what he is going to say next, when it comes to these “Top Ten Things A Home Inspector Almost Always Says”. No we don’t do the two finger rabbit ears behind his head 🙂 I swear we don’t!

NUMBER ONE:

You need a GFI over here by the sink, oh and another one over here in the master bathroom, and one down here by the kitchen sink…and one more out here in the yard, at the outlet next to the hose bib.

NUMBER TWO:

Contact…contact…Earth-to-wood contact over here.Get that firewood AWAY from the HOUSE!

NUMBER THREE:

Now this here tree is planted WAAAAY TOO CLOSE to the HOUSE!

NUMBER FOUR:

You want to treat the roof for moss BEFORE you get moss. You can spray the treatment on with a hose from on the ground. But first you have to get the moss off the roof, because the treatment will only keep moss away. It won’t remove the moss you’ve already got. I tried to get a website link for you, but lots said we should all trash our roofs and get metal ones. Moss can’t grow on a metal roof. Pretty noisy neighborhood if it starts hailing on all the metal roofs.

NUMBER FIVE:

Cracks in the Driveway!

NUMBER SIX:

Pine needles on the roof, in the valley flashings and in the gutters.

NUMBER SEVEN:

Chimney flashing. if I had a nickel for everyone of these…

NUMBER EIGHT:

Hanging gutters, loose gutters, missing gutters, gutter downspout too close to foundation, divert water further away from the house.

NUMBER NINE:

CAULK! Take out the old caulk…put in the new caulk. Caulk inside where the tub meets the tile. Caulk outside of the tub where the tub meets the floor. Caulk around the kitchen sink. Apparently we all need many tubes of caulk in various colors, including no color at all!

And NUMBER TEN IS!

UH OH…NO TAG ON THE HEATER! OLD TAG ON THE HEATER! NO TAG DATED 2006 ON THE HEATER!

2ND INSPECTION NEEDED TO HAVE AN HVAC QUALIFIED INSPECTOR SERVICE AND INSPECT THE HEATER.

Negotiating the Commission vs. “Discounting”

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[photopress:album2.jpg,thumb,alignright]My very first entry here on RCG discussed the manner in which a buyer and their buyer’s agent negotiate the buyer agent commission. Being a “Discount Broker” and Negotiating are not one in the same. A “Discount Broker” usually has a set fee or menu of services with set prices. Many traditional brokers have a set range within which their agents cannot deviate. “Negotiating the commission” is a simple phrase for no carved in stone set amount. It means sitting down with a client and determining a fair and reasonable price for this client given this particular client’s needs and expectations. The end result being an unknown factor until the end of the interview. The end result could be higher than the client’s desire, lower than the client’s expectation and in many cases no change at all from the agent’s expectation. Negotiation is about an intelligent discussion with a mutually agreed upon end result.

Last night before I went to sleep I popped over to Greg’s excellent blog and his article that referenced my feelings on the topic of buyers and buyer’s agents. I was a little surprised to see a “nastygram” comment there aimed at me personally and my feelings on this topic. It amazes me that agents who sit down with sellers every day to negotiate the commission, become absolutely outraged at the suggestion that buyer’s should do the same with their agent.

I would like to dispell the myth that I am a “Buyer’s Broker” who exclusively works with buyers only. Not because there is anything wrong with that business model, but because it simply isn’t true. The only reason I highlight buyers with regard to commission negotiations is because agents negotiating with seller clients is a given. There is absolutely, never a listing appointment with a seller, that does not include the topic of commission. Consequently there is no reason for me to evoke change or explain the parameters within which the seller consumer can negotiate with their agent.

One of the main reasons to highlight the difference between “discounting” and “negotiating” is the fact that Buyer Agent Bonuses are on the rise. Every night I receive emails and “Zip Your Flyers” from agents around the Puget Sound offering “$5,000 EXTRA Buyer Agent Bonus!” and “4% SOC!”

The mere concept that a Buyer Agent will be enticed to lead a buyer to one house over another, because of the amount of money that Buyer Agent will make when it sells, shoud be offensive to every single agent in this country.

The Buyer Agent represents the Buyer. The Buyer Agent is not “Selling a House to Make Money”. The Buyer Agent, in representing the Buyer’s Best Interests, should never be offering advices based on the fee structure of each property. That doesn’t mean that a low fee doesn’t infiltrate and influence the thought process. We are human. It would have to be a perfect match for my client and a great house for me to truly buckle down and recommend a house that is paying five bucks or nothing. But there have been times when I recommended a house and walked away with absolutely nothing, just as there are times when I have represented a seller and found that my walking away with nothing was the only way to achieve the objective. It happens once in a while the same as a lawyer does a pro bono case once in a while. I don’t make a business model out of it, but I don’t rule out the possibility of that end outcome either.

As for the jab at the end of the “nastygram” comment “NOTE: Ardell is NOT a REALTOR”, it is absolutely true that I “stepped out of the pew” after having been a member for 14 years or so. I have given NAR over ten years of those 14 years I was a member, to raise the status of the buyer to CLIENT level. I am disappointed that Buyer Agency has not progressed further than it has, and clearly I have given them sufficient time to meet my expectations.

Does anyone really think it matters if I go over and slap my $500 or so over at the Board of Realtors on Monday to “become a REALTOR”? Does taking five minutes out of my day and $500 out of my pocket really make any difference in who I am or how I do business with my clients? I think it is more honest and ethical to be true to myself, and stay out as long as I agree with the DOJ’s position. I think it is more honest and ethical for me to stand outside the fray until our basic thinking is more in line, than to be a member who dissents from within. I’m the one who has to look at myself in the mirror in that regard, and make a personal choice. At present, this is the one I can live with.

As long as the buyer is not expected to discuss commissions when they meet with an agent, the same as a seller – no more, no less, I will remain where I am. Discussing commissions with a seller does not automatically translate into discount nor does discussing commissions with a buyer automatically translate into discount. It is a matter of equal treatment and respect, pure and simple. How can that possibly be wrong?

ON A LIGHTER NOTE – THERE WILL AGAIN BE A PRIZE, ON BOTH SITES, FOR NAMING THE BAND AND ALBUM TITLE OF THE PICTURE IN THIS POST. Same era, late sixties, fabulous Rock and Roll band from the West Coast that might have done better on a different label. Not a One Hit Wonder, with many albums in our collection, and one of Kim’s favorite bands of all time. There are other clues to the band’s name in the photo itself, but this one should not be an easy ,”googleable” answer. Good luck!

If wishes were horses, beggars would ride

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if-wishes-were-horsesIt’s much easier to “stick it to the man” when you’ve never met the man.

“If” the beginning of every residential real estate transaction were the buyers and the sellers and their agents meeting and chatting, maybe having dinner together and a drink or two for an hour. Then everyone walks through the house together while the seller tells the buyer the story of their life in the house and the buyer and agents ask questions. Then the offer is written, and proceeds through the inspections to find things the seller just truly doesn’t know about. At the end of the transaction when all items and terms are fully negotiated, the buyer comes into the room with a check in his hand. The seller comes into the room with the keys to all doors and garage door openers and manuals on appliances. The agents review the final numbers and nod to the closing agent.

Everyone smiles and shakes hands after the seller gets his check from the closing agent, and the seller hands over the keys to the new owner and wishes them much luck in the home they have lived in, and now pass forward to the new owners.

Believe it or not, that is how many of my original real estate transactions transpired, once we achieved balanced market conditions. For the past several years, more often than not, the buyers and sellers never even meet each other. The Seller’s Agent never meets the buyer and the Buyer’s Agent never meets the seller. The playing field seems to get nastier when it becomes a true buyer’s market or seller’s market. For the first time in many years, I am starting to see transactions that are more civil and fair to both parties.

I’ve been in this business long enough to see both buyer markets and seller markets. I’m still happiest when the market is balanced and all parties have met each other and treated one another with dignity and respect. I wish it were always so, but then, “if wishes were horses, beggars would ride…and there’d be no work for tinkers.”

What is a .25 bathroom?

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[photopress:9t.jpg,thumb,alignright]Nine times out of ten when someone asks me this question, the house does not actually have a .25 bath. The mls here in the Seattle area requires us to count bathrooms in a specific, and somewhat outdated manner, causing many homes to appear to have a .25 bath that do not. 

[photopress:5t.jpg,thumb,alignright]I will shortly be listing a two bedroom condo in Kirkland at the north end of Lake Washington for about $200,000 that has 1.25 baths. While many homes show 2.25 baths or 3.25 baths, these homes do not actually have a .25 bath at all. A .25 “bath” is one extra fixture, usually not housed in a separate room at all. The 1.25 bath condo I will be listing has a sink and vanity area located in the master bedroom between the full bath (with jacuzzi) and the walk in closet. You enter this dressing area from inside the master bedroom. This is the best example of a real .25 bath. It is an area inside the master bedroom, just outside the full bathroom, where one can shave or put on their make up while the other is in the bathroom taking a shower.

Most homes that show 2.25 baths actually have 3 “bathrooms” involved that total this configuration. The most common setup is one “full bath” plus one “3/4 bath” plus one “1/2” bath, that totals 1 + .75 + .50 = 2.25 total baths. The 3/4 bath is most often attached to the master bedroom and has a shower stall and no tub, making it a toilet + sink + shower stall = 3/4 bath (3 fixtures – no tub). The full bath is usually located off the main hall and is used by the persons in the “other” bedrooms and has a tub (with shower in it) + toilet + sink equalling one “full” bath. A 1 3/4 bath home would normally be a rambler style on a single level, with the full hall bath doubling as the “guest bath”.

A 2.25 bath home would normally be a two story home with a 3/4 in the master, a full bath in the hall and a half bath on the main level, with a toilet and a sink only, so that one does not have to go up to the second floor to go to the bathroom. On the East Coast this is called a “powder room” from the old days when women pretended to be “powdering their nose” as opposed to relieving themselves 🙂 A 3.25 bath home would be similar, but might have four bedrooms rather than 3 with both a hall bath and a “Jack and Jill bath”. A “Jack and Jill bath” is a term used to describe a bathroom set between two bedrooms that can be accessed from either bedroom, but not from the hallway. I had one once, though in my case it would have been more aptly called a “Jill and Jill bath”, but I do not recommend it. The occupant of the bathroom enters from their bedroom and locks the door to the other bedroom from inside the bathroom while bathing. They are supposed to remember to unlock that door when they leave, but often don’t, causing the occupant of the other bedroom to be locked out from their side of the bathroom.

Another example of a .25 bath seen in some very old homes with basements, is a “below grade” toilet only, usually in the basement and sometimes called a “service toilet”. It is a stand alone toilet or a toilet in the washer and dryer area near the “utility sink”. It is often just sitting out in the open in an unfinished basement area used by a guy who is working on his car or in his workshop area in the basement, saving him a trip up the steps to the main bath.

I say this system is “antiquated” because housing trends have expanded, but the mls method of counting fixtures has not expanded with the times. For example, my master bathroom has a separate enclosure for the toilet area, a jacuzzi tub, two separate and distinct sink areas, and a large two headed shower stall. Technically that equals six “pieces” 2 sinks plus 2 showers plus jacuzzi tub plus toilet equals 6. But the mls makes no distinction between that type of elaborate master bath and a “full” bath. That is why you will often see the term “five piece bath” in the marketing remarks of a home, meaning there is a single head shower stall and a separate tub and double sinks. The “uitility sink” located in the washer and dryer area is never counted as a “fixture” when totalling up the bathroom fixture count.

So when you see a home listed as having 2.25 baths or 3.25 baths, stop looking for the .25 bath. It generally does not exist inside that home. Instead, expect to have a 3/4 bath with no tub in the master and a .50 bath on the main level with a toilet and sink only.

What’s a buyer to do?

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[photopress:frustration.JPG,thumb,alignright] In the under $500,000 market, good properties are flying off the shelf. In the last two weeks, we were chasing properties with our client in multiple offer situations from Bellevue to Edmonds. It’s a tough market to work in and gets very discouraging to our buyers. When a market is this hot it always requires an accelerator clause if you want to be in the game.

I was thinking about how typical this chase was and want to share this little history with you. Two deals we lost, one where we bid higher and one where we bid the same and the last one that we got, we paid less than the highest bid. Here’s what we did and how we finally got a happy ending!

Offer 1:condo in Sandpoint, priced $325,000. We were the high bid on this one at $375,000. We used an accelerator clause because we knew we had to and in fact, there were 10 offers. We knew we’d have to waive inspection and form 17 and be pre-approved and we did all that, but the seller, rather than selling for the highest price, sold the condo at 5000 below our offer because the seller had met the other buyer and liked him. Our buyer, by the way, has great credentials.

Offer 2: condo in the north end priced at $330,000. we did an accelerator to 350,000 and we were beat at the same price because the other buyer was all cash. This was smart of the seller, since there’s always the problem of appraisals, which are tougher on condos than single family homes

Offer 3: condo in Roosevelt district, this one was listed at $320,000 and we put in an accelerator clause up to $365,000, no inspection, waive 17 and pre-approved. This time our buyer was in town and met with the sellers and, as usual, we found something in common with the two of them, and we got the condo for $5000 less than the highest offer.

Lesson learned: Always always try to get some connection with the seller if at all possible. It’s best, if you have a likable buyer, to have them meet and chat a bit. Even if you’re working with a sour personality, you can still coach them a bit and I’m right there with them to act as a catalyst. If the seller or buyer are out of town I write an interesting summary of how much the buyer likes the house, their strengths and I always try to find something really touching about them, some sort of volunteer, a special hobby, etc. Knowing the listing agent and/or treating them really well is a great asset, too. I’ve been known to bring a Starbucks when arriving with an offer. Sellers like to know who they’re selling to and often their home is not just a financial investment but something with soul and they want the “right” person to buy it.

So, you just never know. Selling a home is an emotional venture and there are as many reasons for who they’re going to sell to as their are people!