SP technology speakers

[Double Ugly]

Well, the bid was accepted, but not without additional negotiations.  My realtor had told me the seller was a jerk, but I'm not sure I truly believed her until today.

The end result is we'll probably still take the house, contingent upon a good inspection report by an inspector of our choosing.  But it isn't a done deal.  

The guy made a mistake today when he made me angry over what should have been a standard agreement item.  If he gives me the slightest reason to back out, I will.  He's already killed what should be a happy event, and that pisses me off.  Consequently, the nearer we get to closing - and the nearer his new home is to completion - the greater the chance I'll hit him between the eyes with something... anything... and walk away.  I don't have to move, but unless he wants to go broke really fast, he's going to need to sell that house sooner than later.

I *HATE* giving my money to someone I don't respect.    

-Jim, the angry house hunter

[bpape]

Understand - been there - but you have to look at the big picture.  Do what's best in the long run.  If you're going to get him, do it financially to your advantage, not by backing out and losing something that's good for you and your family.

It's easy to be pissed off but just think about it for another day.

Bryan

[richidoo]

Congrats Jim! Oh happy day!    You got a new house dude!!

Ditto what Bryan said.

My wife has been in RE for 10 years, so I have heard every story there is about buyers, sellers, builders, lenders, a**holes, angels, etc. Every negotiation has some aspect of drama, rarely is it all good. There are a lot of wackos in the world and their true colors come out when they start playing in the big leagues, anything over $1000 for most people. Make it a quarter million and they can forget their soul.

If you like this house, put on a smile despite the idiot and just get the house. You can only beat him by closing. Anything else is beneath you. Recognize the type of puzzle you are playing here and play to win! If not you he will sell to somebody else for the same price, why should he care about your wants? Well besides the obvious reason decency, which apparently doesn't apply in this case.

RE is never fun, it is all business. Don't let the emotions of the players (including yours) interfere with your successful deal.

Congrats!!!!!
Rich

[Double Ugly]

Understand - been there - but you have to look at the big picture. Do what's best in the long run. If you're going to get him, do it financially to your advantage, not by backing out and losing something that's good for you and your family.

You're right, of course.  Truth be told, that's precisely what Kandy and I discussed today.  

I'd MUCH prefer to continue with the purchase, but if the guy wants to play hardball, I have no problem with that.  He seems oblivious to the fact that the ball is now in our court, which is going to make it just that much sweeter if/when we drop the hammer.  Since it appears he's done virtually nothing to maintain the house and property in the 5 years he's owned it, I'm practically salivating at what I believe will be a myriad of opportunities to make his life a living Hell.

Now that the contract is signed, the pendulum of influence swings in our favor.  The closer we get to closing day (May 25th), the greater the leverage becomes.  I know the guy wants out of the house, but he's trying to take advantage of a seller's market (seriously, it is down here) to the extreme.  Apparently it never occurred to him that someone else can be made to be as big a prick as he, and though I'm not proud of it, I'm just the guy to pull it off.

Nevertheless, I honestly believe it's even money we end up walking.  The guy has a track record of being unreasonable and shows no signs of letting up.  If I present legitimate concerns/issues and he responds as he did today, we'll walk.  Regardless of the circumstances, there's always a breaking point, and this guy has played his last card as far as I'm concerned.  

Kandy loves the place so much that I found her crying at the kitchen table the day after we were led to believe it had sold to someone else, and even she's ready to call it quits now.  My realtor is furious, and according to her, even this guy's own realtor is pissed at him.

-Jim

PS - Anyone here a hospital administrator?  If the only two with whom I've dealt (my ex-father-in-law and this guy) are indicative of the species, I hope to avoid all future encounters.  Surely there's an average, normal guy out there who just happens to be a hospital administrator, right?

[Double Ugly]

Congrats Jim! Oh happy day!    You got a new house dude!!

Ditto what Bryan said.

My wife has been in RE for 10 years, so I have heard every story there is about buyers, sellers, builders, lenders, a**holes, angels, etc. Every negotiation has some aspect of drama, rarely is it all good. There are a lot of wackos in the world and their true colors come out when they start playing in the big leagues, anything over $1000 for most people. Make it a quarter million and they can forget their soul.

If you like this house, put on a smile despite the idiot and just get the house. You can only beat him by closing. Anything else is beneath you. Recognize the type of puzzle you are playing here and play to win! If not you he will sell to somebody else for the same price, why should he care about your wants? Well besides the obvious reason decency, which apparently doesn't apply in this case.

RE is never fun, it is all business. Don't let the emotions of the players (including yours) interfere with your successful deal.

Congrats!!!!!
Rich

I hear what you're saying, Rich, but as Bryan mentioned, I think I can do better than beating him at closing.  If I play it right, I think I can make it such that he deeply regrets not taking my original offer.  To date, he's held all the cards (great house/location in a seller's market), but things have changed in the past 24 hours, and I hope to take full advantage.  

Thing is, he's building a brand new house that will be finished in the next 30 days or so, and he's anxious to sell his current abode.  I have an inkling of what this guy makes, and it doesn't put him in a likely position to be able to afford two homes for very long.  In fact, he supposedly had an offer $5k higher than my original counter, and yet when the prospective buyer couldn't be reached for signing (his wife had a car accident), he quickly dropped the $5k and came back to me.  Considering the fact that he house has been on the market less than 2 weeks, has been shown at least 3 times and garnered at least 2 offers, the 180 he pulled smacks of desperation, and I hope it will lead to his fiscal undoing.

The inspector I plan to hire is famous (or infamous, depending on your perspective) for being tough and thorough, and I have little doubt he'll find enough that needs repairing/replacing that the seller would've been better off taking my initial offer.  If not, great; the house will be in better condition that I'd thought possible and the deal will go through.  If not, well... there's the rub.  I'll play it straight-up because I'm not a liar or a shyster, but believe you me, it will be hardball.  And the closer we get to May 25th, the harder the ball will become.

Like I've said before, I want to move, but I don't have to.  I can just put my kid in 1 of 3 conveniently located private schools and put the rest of what I'd spend in the bank account.  The same can't be said of the jerk.

-Jim

[richidoo]

Remember Carrie, the crotchety old thorn from the TV show ER? There you go, incontrovertable proof.

[Double Ugly]

Remember Carrie, the crotchety old thorn from the TV show ER? There you go, incontrovertable proof.

No, I never saw the show.  But I'll take your word for it.  

-Jim

[WEEZ]

Keep your cool, Jim.

Like you said, you don't HAVE to move; and the ball is now in YOUR court.

I've moved (10) times since leaving my parent's roost, (a million years ago ) including building a house (somewhere in there). It's always a hassle. Sometimes good...but a hassle none the less. Now that I'm an old fart...the prospect of moving again would distress me .

Hey, if it's meant to be..it's meant to be. If not, there will be other opportunities......

Stay cool, buddy....

WEEZ

[Double Ugly]

Keep your cool, Jim.
WEEZ

Yeah, I'm cooled down now.  I was still steaming when I made the initial post-acceptance post, but I'm all better now.  

However, it doesn't mean I'm not going to follow-through with what I said above.  I've moved something like 15 times in the past 25 years, and though I don't claim to be an expert and have never held a realtor's license, I think I know a thing or two about buying and selling homes from a seller's/buyer's perspective.  Sure, I've had good and bad experiences too, but this guy takes the cake.

-Jim

[miklorsmith]

My wife's a hospital administrator - she negotiates contracts on behalf of the hospital against insurance companies.  Wanna see a worse group than hospital folks?

We bought the house we're in about 2 years ago.  To call the purchase a nightmare would be complimentary.  We almost lost the deal the day before closing and two days before the scheduled move-in.  We almost had to move back in with my folks (our other house was sold).  It was a freakin' miracle it worked out in the end.  My wife and I reflect back at that as one of the worst experiences either of us have ever had.

The good news is we both love the place and it's perfect for us and the kids.

I'll echo sentiments above that it's the house you're after, not the guy.  The caution would be that real estate deals take a long time and there are a lot of potential landmines through the gestation period.  Dishonest actors have many, many opportunities along the way to blow things up.

For example - my *bad* deal was the result of sellers realizing they had sold for around $50k under market, reviewing the contract, and trying to invalidate it.  Once a scumbag . . .

I hope it all works out for you.  Kandy crying sounds EXACTLY like a scene I had with my wife during our trial.  I hope yours is all a diminishing reflection in the rearview soon.

[Christof]

There's a lot of jumping up and down and hyperbole over at AC about these and the super duper new X'overs being offered (for super duper prices) anyone have any ear-knowlege about these or thoughts? Sounds too good to be true. Haven't we all heard about the Ultimate killer product before? and before that...

I have a pair of Timepiece 2.1's and I will be upgrading my crossovers in the next week or two and will report back.  

As a side note, I live just a few minutes from the SP Tech facility and I've gotten to be pretty good friends with Bob Smith.  I trust that he would not have recommended the upgrade to me, knowing that I'm on a pretty tight budget, if he was not 100% sure it would improve the sound.  He is a very stand-up guy and doesn't make a living by fibbing about how good his speakers are.

[shep]

Funny how we slid from x'overs à la Timepiece to scumbags and hard ball!
Jim make the prick regret he ever crossed your path and get the house!
I don't own a house buy I would be plotting serious revenge by now;
dumping moles on his new lawn, termites and wood rot and intermittant lightening strikes!

[Double Ugly]

Jim make the prick regret he ever crossed your path and get the house!

That's the plan, though it may prove easier said than done.

I don't own a house buy I would be plotting serious revenge by now;
dumping moles on his new lawn, termites and wood rot and intermittant lightening strikes!

   

Goodness, shep... remind me to avoid pissing you off if/when you find your way to the states.  

Seriously, he hasn't done anything to warrant that type activity... yet.  From my perspective, I doubt he will, but Kandy might disagree.  She and I are cut from a slightly different cloth.  To wit -

We wanted to purchase the wooded lot next door before adding-on to our current home, but a house/land speculator/schmuck got to it first (another event precipitating our current endeavor).  He moved quickly with building preparations, the first being the removal of virtually every decent-sized tree from the 1-acre lot, something that pissed Kandy off to no end.  In the weeks that followed, her oft-expressed thought was to call the INS if Mexicans show up to build the house.

I'm not too terribly fond of the idea of pissing her off either!  

-Jim

[shep]

meek and mild, that's me only reserve the serious revenge for non-audiophiles. A good mole colony will drive a person wild! I tried drowning them, gassing them, voodoo...they just come back bigger and stronger! Wives are usually the best judge of a finely tuned revenge scenario...don't worry, I have no intentions either to get pissed off or come to the states!

[Double Ugly]

A good mole colony will drive a person wild! I tried drowning them, gassing them, voodoo...they just come back bigger and stronger!

Tell me about it!  I lived here 3 years with no problems, but when they showed up, they arrived in force!  Treating my entire 1-acre lot for grubs helped to a degree, but they've never entirely left.

Pesky boogers, no doubt.  I'll be glad to leave them behind, assuming all goes well (the jerk is still at it   ).

Wives are usually the best judge of a finely tuned revenge scenario...

I believe you.  They're revenge masters of the known world if my Anti-Christ of an ex-wife is any indication, especially since *I'M* the one who should be getting revenge!  

-Jim