Saturday, January 15, 2011

Guns and Realtors

I spoke to our Realtor yesterday and we agreed that she would talk to the buyers Realtor and explain their offer was too low and we really didn't want to start any negotiations from that point.  This Realtor is a new one and in my opinion she should have talked her buyers into a more reasonable offer.  This is the same young woman that came to the house and was going to make an offer weeks and weeks ago.  I think they have had a little trouble with their financing.  We're not holding out much hope that this will work out and frankly, we're not really wanting anything to happen quite yet.  We'd prefer to spend another month or so in Florida, head back to Georgia, continue downsizing and have a closing around May.  Do you think it will work out like we want?

Al has a few more pest control accounts to do this morning and then we're going to figure out something fun to do for the rest of the day.  The weather is warming back up and it looks like it's going to be nice and sunny.

Al has a friend who is a collector.  He collects guns, knives, antiques, toy cars, and just about anything collectible.  Apparently he has a pretty good eye for anything of value.  He purchased an antique gun for $1200 and took it to his gunsmith to check it out.  The gunsmith called him after a few days and wanted him to come over right away so they could talk about the gun.  He told Skip that he did some research on this gun and that it's going to be worth a lot more than he thought.

It turns out it is the missing gun of a collection that they have at Ellis Island (Statue of Liberty).  They called the curator of  museum to tell them they had this gun.  The woman they spoke to became very excited and said they would be able to offer him $50,000.  After doing some more research figures he can get $100,000 for this gun!  Skip has decided to loan the gun to the museum though and will probably donate it to him after he passes away.  Isn't that a nice thing to do?  Skip says that every gun he has purchased is worth more than he paid for it, and that we could do it too.  Of course he rarely sells any of his collections, but they are worth more on paper than he paid for them.  I don't see that working out well for us though since we know nothing about guns.  Some people just seem to have a knack for making money.

7 comments:

  1. I agree with you on the house sale...doesn't sound like it will pan out but you never know!

    Tell Skip thank you for doing such a wonderful thing. Many museums need donations like this to keep going. When we visited the D-Day museum in New Orleans, we were so impressed with the number of donations. Same thing for the historical part of the display at the Zippo museum in Bradford, PA.

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  2. When I read your headline I thought "oh, oh, what now?" Thankfully, the guns and the Realtor weren't related.

    Nice of your friend to donate that valuable piece to the museum.

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  3. Like Rick, my first thought was you were looking for a gun to sort out the Realtor.

    I hope the timing of the sale works out. That would mean your luck in such matters will be a lot better than ours was.

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  4. I think you are being realistic about the young couple, but if a good offer comes in you should jump on it.

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  5. IMO: It's good you have a plan, but it doesn't hurt to offer a counter-offer... you just never know!

    Nice guy Skip is!

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  6. I think I would have at least considered a counter offer. We were lucky. The lady that bought our property was a no-nonsense kind of person. She asked me what I wanted for it, I told her, and she offered it. Hope you run into the same kind of person.

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  7. Just like Skip "loaning" the gun to the museum, it seems like the young couple want you to "loan" or give your house to them. The right buyers will show up in time.

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