Yesterday I was contacted by an investor, who found me on Linkedin and had been reading some of my blog posts. He and his brother were investing in a smaller market about two hours east of Toronto. This would be their first purchase in this area and it was a multiple bidding situation.
As first time investors they made some errors, which are common, such as putting in the offer before being pre-approved for financing. Especially in a multiple offer situation you want to make sure that your bid for the property has no conditions of financing. The only condition you want is the inspection. This way if the seller is presented with all of the offers, they will most likely accept the one with no condition of financing as that is a sure thing vs. somebody who still needs to be assessed for financing and does not really know whether they can afford the property.
This investor had put in the offer, ordered the inspection and was now contacting me for financing – however the clock was ticking. I immediately asked for an extenstion as I was not certain that I could fulfill financing in such a short time (3 days left).
He went back to the realtor and asked for the extension but it was denied simply because it was a multiple offer situation. The realtor suggested her broker, who lived and worked in that market and could get the appraisal the next day – which would ultimately save the client time and possibly losing the deal.
It was great that they were both organized and could get me the paperwork but I still had to find the lender, who would do the deal. To further complicate things, the investors were incorporated, which would mean further validation of income.
He kindly called me and said he would stick with me if I could do the deal. Now, if I was looking out for my own interests, I would have said, “Yes of course I can do the deal”. Instead, I was looking out for what is best for my client and suggested he use the other broker with the connections in the marketplace. If I could not get the deal done, I would not only lose the trust of this client but more importantly I would not be putting my clients needs before my own!
It is hard to give away business but I believe strongly in Karma – what goes around comes around. The client thanked me for looking out for his interests and said that he would be using me for the next deal.
I believe that if we all focus on putting our clients needs before our own in every situation, it will come to serve us all well.
To your Wealth!
Amina
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