It’s not wise to leave a transaction on bad terms—here’s why.

Today I want to talk about good terms—whether you’re buying a home and leaving on good terms with the previous owner or selling a home and leaving on good terms with the buyer. 

Recently, I represented the seller of a $1.7 million property in Wheaton (0:21 in the video). I actually knew the buyer through a friend, and we left on good terms with them. Afterward, I was even able to give them the brochures of the property. In that case, we left on good terms with the other party, but when I’m dealing with buyers and sellers, sometimes it’s very intense. For example, the buyer might feel like they've overpaid, or the seller may feel like they've left money on the table. 

I represented a seller for another property recently that was an intense sale. At the final walk-through, the buyer’s agent mentioned a couple of things to me. A ceiling fan wasn’t working, for one thing, and there was another item they took issue with. The repairs cost $300 or $400 in total.

It’s amazing how much we have in common when we turn off the news.

I asked the buyer’s agent what they’d like me to do and offered to see if my seller was willing to give a credit, but I recommended not doing that because my seller was already frustrated. I also told them that down the road, their buyer would have questions about the mechanicals, how to operate the sprinkler system, who worked on what, etc., and that was 10x more valuable than the $300 or $400. The buyer’s agent agreed, and when she went back to her buyer, they agreed as well. Since then, I’ve probably taken 10 to 15 text messages from the buyer’s agent saying something like, “Hey, can you ask your seller about…”

Again, leaving on good terms is important for both sides. If you’re the seller, you have memories of the home, and you want those memories to be positive once you’ve closed out that chapter of your life. On the buying side, when you open up that chapter of your life, you want to leave on good terms with the previous owner because you’ll probably have questions. My wife and I recently moved for the first time in 16 years, and we left on great terms with the seller of our new home. I’ve texted back and forth with them about various things, and I’ve done the same thing with the person who bought our old home. 

So remember—good terms, good karma. It’s amazing how much we have in common when we turn off the news. If you have questions about this or any real estate topic, don’t hesitate to reach out to me. Keep raising the bar in real estate, and go make someone’s day.