I am the broker in question, and I am deeply embarrassed by my reaction to buyer’s offer and my unprofessional tirade with him. I had just returned to my office from a huge traffic jam and was in no mood to talk with anyone. I should have cooled off before returning his call, but I had been out all afternoon and knew he wanted to speak with me ASAP. I have apologized to the father and son as well as informed the owner of the airplane of my inappropriate behavior and the essence of what happened.
So, I would like to tell my side of the story:
I sent a copy of the Vref report that I prepared prior to their arrival in Dallas along with a detailed spec sheet, copies of logbooks, etc. After demonstrating the airplane to his son, I spent over an hour talking with them, answering their questions and sharing again the Vref report and Vref reports on several other Archer II’s showing that they were all priced much higher than Vref and mine was priced well below Vref, indicating that the Archer II market appeared to be strong. I also told them that with less than two weeks on the market I had already shown it to one person from California who is arranging financing and had serious interest from a couple others including one who was coming in from out of town a couple of days later, and who said that his Vref agreed with mine and “I have no problem with your price”. I made it clear to the father and son that considering my airplane was clearly a better value and investment than the others, that I was expecting the airplane to sell for asking price or very close to it. I never said that the price was firm.
The father asked about how the sales process worked, title searches, etc. and I replied that the next step would be to make an offer, and if accepted, I would work up a Purchase Agreement for the party’s signatures and he would bind it with a deposit either to me directly or to an escrow/title company. Then, it would go to a mechanic or shop of his choosing in the DFW area for a prebuy inspection, and that Seller would be responsible for correcting any “airworthiness issues” found.
He asked if he could have the mechanic on the airport first take a look at the airplane in its hangar and just walk around and point out anything obvious – not a prebuy inspection. And since they didn’t know anything about airplanes, this would enlighten them a bit more before proceeding. They had already talked to the mechanic and he had agreed to do this. I said “sure, no problem” and left them alone with him.
The next day during our phone conversation, the father said that he still hadn’t received the discrepancy list from the mechanic with the estimated costs to remedy a few discrepancies which included worn MLG tires, peeling paint (not corrosion) on the belly as a result of battery acid, some non standard bolts on the engine and some fasteners missing, but “the mechanic said that none of the items on the list were non-airworthy and that it was a very nice airplane”. Then the father said to me that it was probably going to be $6,000 to remedy all of them. Therefore, I would like to make an offer of $75,000. And, since I know that you are going to take a hit on your commission, I will make up the difference between what you would have made at $84,900. Well, my commission does not EVER play a part in what I am trying to sell an airplane for. Since I represent the seller, I am obligated to get him the most that I can – a fair market price within a reasonable period of time. And, anyway the difference in commission would have been less than $300.00 -hardly an amount that would influence me.
I have been selling airplanes on and off since 1973 and have had my own sales company since 1985. I have many, many satisfied customers. A few of these have written Testimonials on my website. Yet, I do occasionally make mistakes, but I learn from them. I certainly have learned from this experience.
