Playing Chicken

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Playing Chicken in the Washington, DC Real Estate Market (edit/delete)

When I was in high school, some of the guys my parents wouldn’t let me date would get together at night with their souped up cars on rural Kansas roads.  And they would hurtle down the two lane road toward a one-lane bridge.  The first one to blink and slow down lost the game – though not his life.

Ah, playing chicken!

Today I sort of have that going on with a buyer and seller.  The deal is in counter.

My buyers wrote a last best offer, clean but slightly below the asking price, hoping that the sellers would just sign it without lengthy negotiations.  They want the house.

The sellers couldn’t help themselves.  Even though it’s been on the market for months with no price reduction and no offers, they upped the price just a bit.  They want these buyers.

So each side is waiting for the other to  blink, and at the same time taking risks.  Another offer could come in at any time, and the buyers could lose the house.  Or the buyers could decide to move on to one of several other places they are considering, and the sellers might not get another offer until they reduce their price, possibly to less than my buyers are willing to pay.

The Washington, DC real estate market is quirky and unpredictable right now.  One or both could wind up disappointed.  But unlike the young hot rodders on that Kansas back road, they are not risking death!

And I wonder where the chicken metaphor came from, anyway?

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