Real Estate is Cut Throat

Bruce nailed an awesome deal today. There was property in El Sobrante that he was interested in but a bid was already placed. In fact, the papers had already been signed by the husband and needed the wife's signature.

In that short window, he went in for the kill. He got his client to put a bid $30K over asking price. The property needs a lot of work but his client is a contractor. So, instead of investing the money in getting the work done, they just bumped up the price based on the savings he would have by doing the work himself.

So, today the agent and seller met separately with Bruce and the other agent. The owner didn't want to get into a bidding war so they decided to go with Bruce's offer, even though the other agent was willing to give a higher bid.

His roommate said it best when he said, "It's like snatching a steak out of the guy's mouth and eating it. He almost had it but only got a taste of the A-1 Sauce."

And so with that, we went to Berkeley to celebrate at an Indian restaurant and karaoke at the Shattuck Hotel. And no, I didn't sing. I was just a spectator.

BTW, I was so mad! I taped "24" for John and myself. I guess I had "60 Minutes" in the brain and changed the channel from Fox to CBS. Crap! I'll have to track it down somehow!