Bad karma can sink a home sale

Bad karma between seller and buyer can sink an otherwise perfectly structured home sale.

Seasoned agents are programmed to detect bad karma or personality clashes. They have the skill to nip it in the bud or, at worst, prevent or limit the damage it can cause. But agents can only do so if they are fully involved at all stages of the buy/sell process.

 This didn’t happen in the recent R6-million-plus cash sale in one of Johannesburg’s posh northern suburbs. It was effectively a done deal waiting to be signed. But the seller decided at the last minute to engage directly with the buyer (without telling the agent) to discuss a minor to contractual issue.

The two parties not only disagreed on the issue but had a personality clash in the process. So much so that bad karma set in, and the net result was the irreparable collapse of a deal that, until then, had ticket all the boxes (including price) for both sides.

The house remained on the market many months afterwards.

Bad karma can also be ignited by seller resentment when a buyer discloses plans to make structural or other major changes to the home once it changes hands.

Experienced agents have the savvy to avoid this pitfall.

On one memorable occasion, a Johannesburg agent unwittingly told the seller (who was proud and passionate about his self-designed-and-built bathrooms) that the buyer planned to flatten the house, bathrooms at al, and rebuild.

Flushed with pique, the seller immediately cancelled the deal!