Bernard Laffer

It is hard to work in the real estate industry and not be affected by people’s financial problems. I am currently listing a home for a client who recently lost his job. After working with my client and his family for several years I was able to help him purchase his dream home. Everything was great. His older son had many friends, the wife found a network of stay at home moms with similar interest. She even had the space to put up her easel and paint. Unfortunately my client lost his job. He was having problems finding a new one at the same pay level. Having a lot of contacts in the technology field I was able to help him interview with a major IT consulting company. It appears that he will get a job but it will be in India. The selling of his home now is crucial. The problem is that he does not have  a lot of equity( 10%)and does not want to lose much money . I have tried pricing his home  at a level that would include the costs he would incur when he sells the home  but in all honesty it is not realistic to expect not to lose some money. It is the slowest time of the year ( the Christmas holidays) and buyers are looking for deals. I  am hoping to double end the deal and not charge a buying commission. This way if my client only pays a total commission of 1% for both sides of the transaction he will save a substantial amount of money in costs. Other realtors believe that by reducing their commissions they are compromising the standards of their profession; I disagree. I believe that it is imperative that I hold onto my humanity and try to help people the best I can. My client trusted me to help him purchase his home.  To repay his trusts the least I can do is reduce my fees to help him survive financially In the long run the company that he is going to work for in India has a large presence worldwide. Hopefully he can transfer back to the USA in a few years.  As a side note, I am presently working with a potential buyer for his home and when I explained to him what I was doing with the commissions he said that he is really thankful that there are people like me to help out in difficult situations. Hopefully we can put the deal together and my client can move on .