Disappointed…but not deterred
The cabin deal fell apart at the last minute. My partners and I know we didn’t anything wrong, in fact, it’s quite the opposite. We had the entire framework of the deal put together and received the 1st contract for review and sign. We were ready to sign, but there was one issue we didn’t anticipate. The seller’s agent wouldn’t represent us as the buyer. This set us back for a moment and we discussed the situation we’d be in without representation. We have a very skilled agent on our team but she isn’t licensed in TN. While we were comfortable taking queues from her, there would be no recourse for us, our partners, or investors should something go awry. So before we proceeded, we found representation (and by all accounts so far, he is incredible). We got the deal all properly structured and written and I signed the 2nd contract yesterday, and singing your name on a million-dollar deal is scary and exciting! Today, we received a call they received another offer and decided to take it instead of ours. They asked if we want to be a backup offer and we declined. We put a lot of time and effort into getting the deal to the goal line and having it taken away at the last minute hurts. I’m old school in the way I view a handshake deal – which is what I thought we had until earlier today. I learned a lot through the process though. I learned I can spot opportunities in the unlikeliest of places. I can successfully negotiate a creative finance deal and listening to the seller's wants, needs, and goals is everything to make the deal happen. We also learned bringing the right representation into the process early will save potential headaches down the line. I also learned no matter how solid of a deal you think you have until the pen is to paper (or signature is to .pdf) nothing is truly over. I’m a little bitter that it ended this way. I think it's mainly due to the fact I took the time to learn about the seller and actually cared about getting them to their goal. I doubt the new buyer cares. I hope the seller gets everything they want out of the deal and everyone walks away happy. But if things don’t work out, they know we’re still interested. But the deal we’re interested in making tomorrow will not be the same one we were willing to make today…..