It happens… trust me, I know how it feels. You have this great deal. You go back and forth with the seller and finally nail down the terms. You sign the papers, they sign the papers, and you start doing your inspections and bringing in your contractors to get bids. Now, you’re just waiting for escrow to open in order for it to officially be “your house.”
Then you get the phone call… the seller is backing out of the deal. All sorts of things go through your head (some of which are probably not appropriate for this or any blog) and then you start thinking, “What next?” Realistically, there are several things that you can do but only a few that you SHOULD do.
What you SHOULD NOT do is just as important as what you should do. How you handle adversity, trials and tribulations says a lot about your business sense and your ability to continue to grow through the struggles.
First, if you have not put a deposit on the house, don’t try and sue. You really don’t have any losses (yet) and the only thing that you could do is sue for specific performance. Basically, that means that they would be forced to sell you the house. It would take months and thousands of dollars to do and it is a toss up on whether you would win or not. I know that we all believe in doing what is “right”, but in this case, it simply isn’t worth it if you have not lost any money. Cut the cord and move on.
Don’t get despondent. This is a numbers game. The more you put out the more you get back. No one (even the “gurus”) gets every deal and even the experts have deals fall out after they are under contract. Don’t let one deal throw you off of your game.
As far as what you should do, there is one word that I use when talking to my partners about deals that we didn’t get: “NEXT!” Say it as loud as you can and make sure that you feel it in your soul. Just like the cashier at the bank, the next money making deal is right around the corner, so just say “Next!” Personally, I’ve found that vocalizing the belief that the next deal is just around the corner helps me move on past the disappointment.
Create belief in unrelenting ambition. If there is one key thing that would set apart those who are successful in business and those who give up, it would be this: The ability to just keep on going. Despite what it may look like from the outside, setting up a business is not easy. If you continue to commit yourself to your goals and your ambitions, your success will follow. You must believe in your ability to accomplish what others cannot. When things get tough, keep moving forward. Winston Churchill once said, “If you’re going through hell, keep going.”
Take a look at what went wrong with the deal so that you won’t have a repeat of this problem. Let me add, though, that sometimes you have done nothing wrong. Sometimes it’s simply the seller and nothing else. I had one fall through recently, after the contract was signed, and the only issue was that the seller was so emotionally invested in his property that he changed his mind and decided not to sell the house. He was more emotionally invested in the house than he was in the money that he would pocket from the sale. There’s nothing wrong with that. You need to look to make sure that you know what the reason is, though. One reason is that you are going back to renegotiate (after the inspection) and he is at the lowest point he can go.
The numbers simply wouldn’t work for him and he realized it before it was too late on his side. The seller must “win” in the negotiations in his mind and if there is no “win” then he may look to back out. Finding out a seller’s “why?” gives you insight into motivation.
Get back up on that horse. When we lost our last one, my partner went out the next day to view another house. I thought that was the perfect solution to keeping the right mindset. You cannot ignore or forget what happened, but you can put it in the past and move on to other projects.
Lastly, project optimism. Tell yourself that you have the skills and the training to accomplish what you want. “What the mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve.” ~ Napoleon Hill. If you didn’t conceive your success, you wouldn’t be reading this blog. Now, go out and believe in your abilities and project the optimism of a successful entrepreneur and you can achieve it!
If anyone has more questions or wants more one-on-one coaching, don’t hesitate to contact me. This is a passion for me and I truly enjoy sharing what I know with others. Thanks for coming by and getting a bit of the education. Until then, remember that you, too, have that inner warrior that it takes to achieve greatness and success. Feel free to drop me a line at Coaching[at] BaileProperties.com.
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