From the blog...

The House Between Friends

Imagine going into a bidding war on a house against your best friend.

Well, I was the Realtor caught in the middle.

It was a cold, snowy night in Ottawa. I was on my way to show a house that had just come on the market to some really close friends of mine. It looked to be a perfect fit for them. It had only been on the market for a few hours. As I approached the house I got another call from another couple and very goods friends who wanted to see the same listing. You have to understand that these two clients were also very close friends themselves(in each others wedding party’s close). My first thought when I got the call was that this was going to be awkward. But really….what was the chance of this house being “the one” for both of them?

Well, that question was answered about an hour later. After showing it to each of them back to back; my first thought was bang on. This was going to be awkward!

They both loved the house and wanted to place an offer on it. We couldn’t find a solution where everyone was happy. So…. they went into a bidding war. What are the chances of facing off against a good friend for the same house!!!

I excused myself from dealing with my second friend (because they were call #2) and set them up with a top Realtor in another office. That way everything we did was confidential and I wasn’t in the more awkward position of representing both parties.

Naturally, the client I was working with ended up securing the house 🙂 In the end my inspector Sean uncovered some issues the seller was trying to conceal. That was the end of that house. In the daylight some of the craziest neighbours I have ever seen were also revealed……but that is a story for another day.

All that agony, awkwardness, sleepless nights and no deal!

We have laughed about this many times since.  Both clients found great houses shortly thereafter and we are all still good friends today.  It could have been a lot worse!

Chris