If you plan on putting an offer in on a luxury listing, you might want to make sure you not only put in a fair price (at least what you think is fair), but also make sure the purchase agreement is typed up.
Today I had the pleasure of receiving an offer on one of my listings. The only problem was that I could barely make out the buyer’s name. It looked like a second grader, who just learned to write, had written in out by hand. I had to read the whole thing a couple of times to make sure I was reading it correctly.
The sellers were less than impressed by the offer. The reason? They felt the buyer’s agent was inexperienced. See, one of the things you have to remember when working in the upper-tier, is that sellers and buyers expect more from their agents. They definitely expect the agent to be professional, and one way of seeing this is how the agent presents themselves. Whether through dress, etiquette, hand shake, presentation, or paperwork, affluent clients are always observing how an agent acts….and they are taking notes.
So when an offer comes in that looks like it was written in Sanskrit, luxury home owners are not impressed. In fact, the offer itself might be good, yet the sellers don’t like it because of the way it was presented. It just puts a bad taste in their mouths. If you want your offer to be taken seriously, take the time to open up a Purchase Agreement in Acrobat Reader, and type in the fields. Not only will it look more professional, but is will put the seller’s mind at ease, that they are working with a competent agent.
And if you are working with an agent who does not type up their documents, you might want to consider hiring someone else to represent you!