The Greedy Poet's Fixup--Part III
When we left our hero about two months ago (he has been too busy with real real estate since then to write about it in the abstract), he had just negotiated a purchase. To refresh your memory, the property consisted of two 2-bedroom houses on a lot in a fine family neighborhood, originally priced at $25,000. As you remember--if you remember--the Greedy Poet had, after several offers and counter-offers, negotiated an agreement with the owner, Mr. Ruddinek, to buy it for $20,500 with a down payment of $7000, the amount Mr. Ruddinek needed to finish paying for his Cadillac. He had borrowed $10,000 from his eccentric rich Uncle Horace and promised to buy his little daughter Alison a doll.
But all this was just a preliminary step in what the Greedy Poet cleverly saw as a long process of negotiation--preferably downward in price. From what he had learned of Mr. Ruddinek, he was convinced that the seller would take less than $20,500 if he could get it all in cash.
"But, darling," said his wife amazedly, when he proposed this to her, "we've already signed the contract."
"That doesn't mean a thing," said the Greedy Poet assertively. "It's just paper. We'll write a new one."
"But won't your broker be angry?" asked his wife meekly.
"The contract we signed," said the Greedy Poet authoritatively, "is between us and the seller. As long as we all agree, we can change it as many times as we want. The broker has nothing to say about it."
"What do you think we should do then?" she asked submissively.
"Buy all cash," said the Greedy Poet.
"Cash? What cash?"
"I figure he'll come down to about $16,000," said the Greedy Poet calculatingly. We already have $10,000 from Uncle Horace. All we need is to borrow another $6000."
"Another $6000!" said his wife in horror. "We already owe Uncle Horace $10,000. We owe money on our house, on our credit cards, on our charge accounts--"
"Be calm," said the Greedy Poet reassuringly. "We can take care of all that in one fell swoop by refinancing our house."
And so it was agreed.
The Greedy Poet contacted Joe, Mr. Ruddinek's agent, who thought he had concluded a successful deal. He groaned when he heard the Greedy Poet's proposal.
"You're not gonna make me run around all over again, are you?" he complained.
"Yes, but I'm not going to reduce your commission."
Joe groaned, but he took the offer.
And so, after seven days and seven nights of further negotiation, it came to pass that Mr. Ruddinek accepted an offer of $15,900 cash, $10,000 to be paid immediately, and a note for $5900 due and payable one month later (plus 10% interest).
Forty days and forty nights later, the refinancing had been completed, Mr. Ruddinek had received the balance due him (including 1 1/3 months of interest), and the Greedy Poet was in possession of two houses in need of repairs on a lot in a fine family neighborhood.
Now the Greedy Poet's talents had to be employed in a new direction.
December 1978