Sellers and would-be landlords, take it while you can!

Recently I received a full-price offer on one of my rental listings. One year at the asking price, no qualms from the tenant about paying moving fees or utilities. The tenant was solid on the credit check and both parties seemed to like each other when they met in-person. Should have been open and shut....

However, most deals are not so easy and this was no exception. At the last moment, my client (the owner) decided to get cute and proposed something to the tenant.

Let me backtrack a moment -- I should have told you that the property is a beautiful condo that is currently fully furnished and shows like a model. We had several potential renters look at it and most liked it. All along, most also said they would want the furniture removed because they wanted to move in their own belongings. My client wasn't thrilled about this, not wanting to incur storage costs, but I explained the sentiment of most potential renters and my client seemed to accept it.

However, at the face to face meeting, my client decided to take over negotiations and proposed cutting the lease by $200 a month if the tenant would put his furniture in storage and use the furniture that is currently in the unit. He told the tenant to think about it and let us know the next day.

Well, you can probably guess what happened if I'm motivated to write about it! Yep, the tenant changed his mind and decided not to take the unit at all.

So, we went from having a tenant paying asking price to nothing. The lesson here is simple and twofold. One, leave negotiation to the professionals (Realtors) and two, every time you make a new proposal it is considered a whole new offer and everything before is invalid. Don't get too greedy!

So at the moment the place is un-rented and although we are close to getting another tenant, this has caused my client undo stress, even if it was his own fault.