The phone rang, and on the line was an older woman determined to buy an apartment in an Eastern European country with no familiarity with the country at all.
Already in the first phone call I understood that this was a woman with no experience in real estate investment, who did not know the country in which she was about to invest and who did not command English. I equipped her with a few tips and do's and don'ts of real estate in the target country, wished her luck, and we agreed that she would contact me as soon as she found the longed-for apartment.
I always make a point of understanding the psychology behind decisions, and first of all I check maturity, understanding and logic in transactions. I'm not looking to close deals but to help clients close deals when they understand the risk and potential in the deal.
Truthfully, I forgot the whole story until her call right after Yom Kippur. “I've already been there a few times. I came back yesterday. I found an apartment. I have a friend who was with me, saw it, and she also wants to buy an apartment there,” she said, and immediately added: “We signed a preliminary agreement with the broker, and I also gave her a down payment of 2,000 euros for each apartment. We agreed that by the end of October we would sign the purchase agreements.”
What???? I almost shouted.
What did I tell you the last time we spoke - not to sign anything without my seeing it first. Not to give a down payment without my approving it, without my checking how you get it back in case of a problem.
We agreed on the fee, and I asked her to send me the documents they had signed and the contact details of the broker and of the sellers' lawyer.
And then... the war broke out.
It was clear that the client and her friend would not be able to fly to sign the agreement. It was unclear how long it would take to get a power of attorney with an apostille to my local partner (the courts in Israel had moved to an emergency format and were not providing apostille services). Their bank did not want to transfer the payment without a signed agreement.
Every day a new difficulty popped up.
And every day the broker called the client - why hasn't the money gone through yet?... When will you come to sign?... If you don't come to sign by the end of the month you'll lose the down payment...
Every day a phone call from the broker to the client putting her under pressure, and every day a calming call from me to the client, and every few days a call with the local partner so that he too could update her on the progress of the checks and the negotiation.
As time went by the broker's pressure grew, and the threats and intimidation intensified. At one point, after we had already managed to settle many of the issues and all that remained was to handle the transfer of the payment right after signing the agreement, I simply instructed the client to stop answering the broker's phone calls. To rely on our professionalism and trust that we would do everything required to bring the deal to a safe harbor.
The deal was signed before the end of the month.
Stories are based on real situations, with identifying details changed. Not legal advice.
Translated from the Hebrew original. עברית