Maybe everyone in this business gets their fair share of difficult deals, but we sure seem to get the lion’s share of our own. Tough deals challenge us to find creative solutions to get the deal to closing; however, this should be a reminder about why it’s important to have an experienced professional working for you.
Finding solutions that keep the deal alive.
One recent deal we had was in a fairly rural location. During the inspection, it was discovered that the well was on a neighboring property (previously part of this one but sold off earlier) AND the septic was being shared with another property. Normally, this would be a showstopper, but with reasonable buyers and sellers we were able to work out a solution. In this case, the seller agreed to lease the property back for a year and during the first six months the seller will get city water added and have the neighbor that’s sharing the septic add their own septic as a condition of the sale.
Delivering bad news and the solution both parties are happy with.
During due diligence on a property we had listed in the middle of a large city, a Phase II Environmental study was required due to having had a lumber company and a dry cleaner on or near the location some fifty years ago. One would think that by this time it would be irrelevant. Not the case. There were small amounts of contaminants found in the groundwater but not the soil. Finding contamination on a site can cause a great deal of concern for a property owner because the law can hold that property owner accountable even if it was not from their business or during their time of ownership. So, maneuvering this tricky area with skill is vital to the success of the sale! What we decided to do was add a deed restriction forbidding the installation of ground water wells or other public groundwater uses on this property indefinitely. Both parties, feeling protected by this, agreed, and we were able to move the deal to closing.
The value of a highly qualified commercial broker.
These kinds of obstacles can seem overwhelming to buyers and sellers that don’t do real estate for a living, potentially driving them to use pricy lawyers who can over complicate deals, or to lose the deal all together and be left feeling like their property is not sellable.
In the over fifteen years I’ve been doing this I’ve seen so many circumstances that at first could seem insurmountable but with a level head and some creativity they can be overcome. Often, people don’t understand the complexity of real estate transactions which also leaves them wondering about the value a highly qualified commercial broker brings to a transaction. Without delicately handling some of these situations either party could decide to walk away, and the property fails to close (and sometimes that can still happen) but having the finesse to keep everyone calm and moving forward with open minds focused on solutions is a skill and an art. In most cases, we are able to find a reasonable solution both buyer and seller are happy with.
We step up to the challenge.
It can often seem like we specialize in difficult properties because we accept the challenges that other brokers will turn down from the get-go. We don’t necessarily seek out difficult deals, but we also don’t turn them away. What we do is persevere alongside our clients. We do not give up and walk away from