Condo-Fishing 14: Condo Fished.

It was a voicemail message from Faith: the flat is yours if you still want it, so please give me a call at your convenience. I was in ecstasy, I was so happy, would not stop laughing, and saying ‘thank you’ to the sky with all my energy. I had that feeling that I could not confess -maybe shielding, just in case-…. that it would happen. I had that humble inner assurance, inexplicable, untellable.
The fishing mission was over. Time to relax, enjoy and celebrate!

Actually, not. The condo-fishing was over, and now Faith’s game was on. She had pumped up the price. Amen. She had postponed the date for getting back to us with the most unbelievable excuses. Amen. She was now postponing our date for moving in. Amen –which meant more scrambling with accommodation for us: lodging in three different places over a four-night period. The culprit of her diva-like sudden changes of mind was towards the actual closing. I started to think if she was taking things personally. It also seemed that she was a master of double-standards: she had every right, and we had none but the only obligation to say Amen to her. We eventually signed. But, until the very last minute we moved in, she kept playing us. We had to wait six hours to get into the apartment. And once we got in, she could not find some paper, so she stayed over for an hour or so. Ah… when someone wants something and has no better alternative. And when the other party knows so, and takes advantage of this, not only setting the rules but also changing them at his or her highest convenience.

Faith’s blunt lesson was when negotiating the way of payment, challenging any ‘market practice’, challenging any paradigm: “I am the one setting the rules, because I am the one offering my place to rent. You take it or leave it.” She had pushed every situation to the limit. It was risky on her side, since this was a renters’ market. Although she knew how much we wanted her place, we also knew that we were her favorites amongst the trio of candidates. We could have got fed up and dumped the negotiations, or we could have found another decent place.

What if we had that attitude for all in life? Of course, laws of supply-and-demand permitting…. And with some inside information about your counterparty!