From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: Buyer’s remorse is the sense of regret after having made a purchase. It is frequently associated with the purchase of an expensive item such as a car or house. It may stem from fear of making the wrong choice, guilt over extravagance, or a suspicion of having been overly influenced by the seller.[1]
Well, it’s official. After countless meetings, emails and phone calls, my buyers have once again pulled the plug on the second condo they fell in love with in the past four months. I’m beginning to see a pattern here. They have a classic case of buyer’s remorse even without having purchased anything.
When we first started out in April, they wanted only new construction so I showed them eight “new” apartments from Battery Park City to the Upper East side, saving the best one for last. They loved it, we pounced, and contracts were drafted with the promise to be signed by my buyers and returned to the seller’s attorney along with a check for 10% of the purchase price within 5 business days. And boy was there A LOT involved in those 5 days, including but not limited to:
- Answering their dozens of emails,
- Composing spread sheets of neighborhood price trends (as per their request)
- Speaking with their attorney
- Negotiating a storage unit
- Going back to the building for 2nd and 3rd visits (HUGE RED FLAG)
Finally both sides agreed on terms and my buyers planned to sign the contract the next day (the 5th day) . They sent me an email that night just to say how thankful they were for all of my help attaining their dream apartment. Naturally I was pleased and profoundly relieved.
So when they called me the next morning to say they had a change of heart I was gutted, but not totally surprised. Their having to revisit the apartment sent up huge red flags of doubt. They told me, that after further contemplation, the apartment was overpriced (it wasn’t) and the closing costs (which they were aware of from day one) were “just too high”. “So let’s keep looking and focus on pre-construction” they said.
Great.
But then, a week later, they decided they wanted to make a second offer on the same “overpriced” apartment - 300k less then the asking price! I of course knew that the seller would never accept that and told them as much, but by rule, I must present all offers and so I did. As predicted, the seller didn’t counter and guess what – the apartment had signed contracts by another party just days later. They’re still kicking themselves over losing that one.
After taking some time off to regroup, we resumed our search (for pre-construction) and met two weeks ago in the sales gallery of a high-end condominium scheduled to be ready sometime next year. After looking at several floor plans and a model unit, they fell head over heals with one apartment in particular. Knowing how history tends to repeat itself, it was imperative to me that they were truly serious this time, aware of pre-construction risks, closing costs, and ready to commit before making another offer. They assured me they were. Once more contracts were drafted and sent out to their attorney to be signed and returned in 5 business days.
Immediately my buyers started asking a million questions, made dozens of outlandish requests and revisited the building several times. I wasn’t falling for their stalling tactics again and politely told them as much. They quickly confessed that new construction was too risky for them especially since they were going to be financing and the seller wouldn’t agree to a mortgage contingency. Now, don’t get me wrong – I completely understand their concerns. However, we discussed ALL OF THEM before, during and after our meeting where they assured me they understood and were perfectly comfortable with these terms.
Our last options are resales. They’re less risky, have lower closing costs, and perhaps a seller will agree to a mortgage contingency. We’re planning to go out next weekend where we’ll see if “three’s a charm” or if my clients have a chronic case of buyer’s remorse. If so, I might run for the hills.