by Kelly Holm
“Thank you.”
Sofia leaned over the reception desk towards Larisa, “the peach mango tea is by far the best. If we are out over there, come see me, I keep a secret stash of it in my desk.”
“Thanks for the tip.” Larisa thought Sofia was very sweet.
Larisa wasn’t much of a tea drinker she preferred coffee, and the stronger, the better. She was a little nervous about the appointment today. She reminded herself, relax, and just remember all my anxiety stems from my career.
While she waited, she looked around the office; it was decorated very nicely with several leather back chairs, positioned in a “U” like shape in front of a large fish tank with several colorful fish, mounted on the back wall. In the center of the chairs, there was a large glass coffee table with a large sprawling plant,
and a few magazines. On each side of the reception desk, there were hanging shelves for magazines; and there were several plants scattered around the office, some hanging, others in pots on the floor.
Larisa looked at the other patients in the waiting room and wondered if they were there for the same thing as her. A man, sitting two chairs over from her was counting quietly out loud, and the woman who was sitting across from her was twirling her hair; every now and then, she would section out maybe two or three strands, and pull them completely out.
“Excuse me, Ms. Bergman, would you mind filling out these forms before you see the doctor?”
Larisa got up and walked over to the reception desk to get the forms and a pen. She sat down and started to fill them out. There were a lot of medical questions, but Larisa thought that was probably normal because she was going to try a new medication. Some of the questions she wasn’t sure of, like her blood type.
As she was filling out her forms, a woman who appeared to be somewhere in her mid to late thirty’s, with a short mousy brown bob, came running out of the treatment area.
“You people are savages, how dare you…,” she yelled.
“Ma’am, you need to calm down and come back inside,” a large man wearing scrubs told her as he forcibly grabbed her from behind and held her arms down. When he had her secure, he pulled her back behind the door.
“No, please…,” she yelled as if she was being dragged back to be tortured or something.
What the hell was that about? Why did she call them savages? Larisa wondered.
She looked around to see if anyone else thought that the outburst was weird. Some of the other patients looked up from their magazines for a brief moment, but no one else seemed to
think it was strange. Even the receptionist appeared to think this was all normal.
For a moment, Larisa thought about using this woman’s outburst as an out. It would be understandable, she thought, who would want to go back into that area after hearing that woman call the staff savages? Larisa took a second look around to see if anyone else was bothered by this distraction, but still, no one seemed to mind, so Larisa tried to put it to the back of her mind and concentrated on filling out the forms. When she finished, she walked up to return them to the receptionist.
“Was that woman, alright?” Larisa asked as she leaned in towards the receptionist so the other patients wouldn’t hear what she was asking.
“I’m sure it was nothing, sometimes patients get nervous and act out. She may be suffering from something like paranoia, I don’t know personally, but I’ve seen this before, and I assure you that there isn’t anything to worry about.” Sofia tried to make the situation sound normal, but she knew it wasn’t.
“I wonder what she was so upset about, I mean, she called them savages. What do you think happened to make her feel that way?”
“I really don’t know ma’am, but I’m sure it’s nothing. Are you finished filling out your forms? If you are feeling a little nervous or stressed about your appointment, maybe you should try a cup of the lavender and chamomile tea.”
“That’s not a bad idea; maybe I will try a cup. Here are the forms.” Larisa wasn’t sure if she wanted to stay or not; I guess I’m here now, and the forms are completed, so I might as well stay, she thought.
“Great, I’ll give these to the nurse, and they should be calling you back shortly. You can have a seat in the waiting area,” Sofia said, as she smiled sweetly.
Larisa barely got back to her chair before a tall, slightly heavyset nurse, with curly red hair called her name.
“Larisa Bergman, please follow me.” Larisa got up and followed the nurse to a room directly inside the door.
“You can have a seat. I just need to draw a little blood so we can test it to make sure everything is hunky-dory.” Larisa turned her head while the nurse was taking the blood.
“That should do it,” the nurse said, as she pulled the needle out and placed a ball of cotton on the spot to stop the bleeding.
“That wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be; you’re very good at that.”
“Thank you; I’ve had a few years of practice. I’m done here; you can go back into the waiting area to wait for the doctor.”
Larisa grabbed her purse and walked back to the waiting area and had a seat. While she waited, she decided to check her emails. As she scrolled through, she noticed there was one marked urgent, from Margot Flemming, the realtor that was representing Mr. Ruperson, the older gentleman who was selling his house to Larisa’s client.
Oh shit, please just be checking to make sure we are all set to close tomorrow, she thought.
She quickly clicked the email open and read through it. It said that Mr. Ruperson has decided that he wants an extra hundred thousand dollars, on top of the sale price, or else he no longer wants to sell his house to her client. Larisa couldn’t believe what she just read; she was furious and had to do something to save this deal.
Oh, hell no; not on my watch you don’t… she thought.
Larisa could feel her blood starting to boil. She quickly tried to calm her nerves, so she didn’t get a panic attack, but she was furious.
She quickly dialed Margot’s number and waited for her to pick up.
“Hello, this is Margot.”
“Hi, Margot, it’s Larisa Bergman, I just read your email regarding the Ruperson property.”
“I’ve been waiting for your call.”
I bet you have, Larisa thought.
“What the hell is going on? You can’t ask for additional funds once you’ve accepted a deal. We’re under contract.”
“Larisa, I’m really sorry; I know how much your client loves the house but…”
“But nothing, I actually tried to convince my client that this was too risky of a deal because your client pulled out the first time. However, he loves that house, and when he noticed that it was up for sale again, he immediately called me and told me to make it happen. I warned him that something like this could happen again, but I really didn’t think you would try it twice.”
“I understand your frustration, and again I am sorry, but he’s selling the house to gain money for his retirement. Mr. Ruperson believes that since your client was so quick to accept the list price that he obviously listed too low. He believes it’s worth an extra hundred thousand dollars.”
“You have to be kidding; there’s no way in hell we are paying a cent over the contract price.”
“If your client doesn’t want to pay the extra amount that’s fine, we’ll just pull the listing and relist in a couple of weeks at the higher price. Don’t you think he deserves to get as much money for the sale of his home as he can?”
“Yes, of course, but not at the expense of my client. You can’t put a house on the market and accept an offer only to ask for additional money because you suddenly think it is worth more.
I’m starting to wonder if your client even has plans to sell or if he is just trying to extort money from my client.”
“That isn’t what we’re doing. My client just believes that he asked too little and that an additional hundred thousand dollars is fair.”
“Then he sh
ould have thought of that when he listed the property. Unfortunately for your client, we are in escrow now; it’s too late to make any changes to the price.”
“I realize the timing is awful…”
“It’s not just the bad timing; this little scam you and your client are pulling is simply unethical; not to mention illegal.”
“Little scam? What do you mean scam?” Margot asked as she quickly got defensive.
“Six months ago, your client put the house up for sale, and my client put in a cash offer for full ask. Your client accepted the offer only to rescind his offer to sell the house a mere five days later, saying he realized he loved the house too much to sell it.”
“And he did, he pulled the listing that day…”
Larisa could tell Margot was starting to squirm; she was saying anything to make her point.
“My client was very understanding and agreed to let him out of the contract without any repercussions, even though he had already sold his house, and he and his family were living in temporary housing.”
As she was talking, she noticed Sofia, the receptionist, walking over to her.
“If you would like to continue your call outside, I’d be more than happy to come and get you when they are ready for you,” she said quietly.
“Thank you,” Larisa quietly replied, so Margot wouldn’t hear her on the other end.
Larisa didn’t want to upset the other patients in the waiting
room, and she knew this call was getting heated. She immediately got up, grabbed her purse, and walked outside. Her heart was racing, she had to massage this deal and make it go through. Her client was counting on her. She convinced him to offer a little more than list price just to secure the sale. If she can’t fix this, he’ll be devastated, and she will lose an important client.
“Like I said before, it is unfortunate, but I don’t know what you think I can do about it; my seller wants the additional funds, or he doesn’t want to sell, period.”
For starters, you could explain to your client that this is illegal…Larisa thought.
“Exactly how do you propose to get out of this contract? We said no contingencies, there’s nothing you can do. Besides, the deal is closing tomorrow.”
Larisa was playing hardball; she had to make this deal work. Her client, Devin Jennings, was buying this property for his family, but most of her dealings with him were for his development properties. He was a significant client, and she couldn’t risk losing his business.
“I understand, but my seller is dead set on getting the additional funds,” Margot reiterated.
“Ok, we seem to be going in circles, would you meet me at my office in one hour?”
“Sure, but I don’t know what you think is going to change.”
“Just meet me there. I’ll see you soon.”
Larisa didn’t think twice, she immediately walked to her car, got in, and headed to her office. This deal had to close; she had worked way too long on it. She called Molly and asked her to get the conference room ready and pull out the contract so she could go over it with a fine-tooth comb when she got there.
While she was driving back to her office, she quickly called her client, Mr. Jennings, and filled him in; as she suspected, he was livid. She explained his options, and he told her he wants the house and is willing to go to extremes to get it.
When she arrived, she quickly went into her office and gathered all the necessary paperwork. She read the contract twice, just to be sure she wasn’t missing anything; and planned her strategy. She knew she was in the right; she just had to convince Margot.
“Larisa, Margot is here. She’s waiting in the conference room.”
“Thanks, Molly. Would you offer her some coffee or something to drink?”
Larisa took a couple of deep breathes before she went into the conference room. She didn’t want to appear nervous. She knew this was going to be a tuff sell, but she couldn’t risk losing this client. She was ready to play hardball.
“Thanks for coming Margot, I appreciate you taking the time for us to discuss this further,” Larisa said, as she sat down across from her.
Margot Flemming was a young real estate agent, maybe in her early to mid-twenties. She definitely looked the part, with her shoulder length dark brown hair neatly pulled to one side and secured with a clip. She wore a black pencil skirt with a white blouse, and a short gray jacket with mid-length sleeves. She finished the look with a pair of black stilettos.
“Look, I know asking for additional money is frowned upon, but my client is insisting; otherwise, he wants out of the contract.” Larisa could tell Margot was nervous, she hoped this would help her in the long run.
“It’s more than frowned upon, it’s illegal. Your client has already signed the contract at the price we agreed on. Plus, my client offered ten percent over list price already, just to secure the sale.”
“I realize that, and it’s a very strong offer; which is why I advised my client to accept the deal in the first place. However, when he talked it over with his son, they decided that he should have asked a higher price. I’ve tried to explain that we can’t go back to the buyer at this point and raise the price, but he just won’t listen. He believes that he can cancel the contract, or revise it at any time without any repercussions. Can’t you just explain this to your client and convince him to pay or find a different house?”
“That’s not how this works. Your client put his house up for sale, what did he think was going to happen? If it weren’t my client, it would be someone else’s; either way, he’s under contract, and he has to play by the rules.”
“Or what?” Margot asked flippantly.
“Or my client has the right to sue.”
“You’re bluffing.”
“Try me,” Larisa said, as she stared down her opponent.
“Oh, come on. Can’t we just play nice?”
“Play nice, seriously? You contacted me the day before closing to tell me that your client thinks he can ask for additional funds or he’ll cancel the deal. My client has every right to file a suit or an arbitration request and look for a specific performance ruling.”
“You’re bluffing; your client has no right to do that.”
“My client has every right to do that.”
“It won’t work. They can’t make my client sell.”
Did this girl even learn real estate? How did she get her license? Larisa wondered.
“That’s exactly what the court or arbitrator can do. Let’s not forget they could also file a lis pendens against the title.”
“What good would that do?”
Are you kidding me? Larisa thought.
“It would render the property basically unsellable.”
“Shit.”
I think she just had her light bulb moment, Larisa thought.
“Look, I’m ready to take this as far as I have to. If this goes in my client’s favor, which I’m sure it will, your client will not only be selling the property at the contract price but also paying a hefty legal bill.”
“Isn’t there any other way?”
“Unfortunately for you and your client, my client is at his wit's end and is standing very firm on his decision to go through with this sale, no matter what.”
“I did call you immediately when he told me he had changed his mind and wanted more for the house, doesn’t that count for anything?” Margot asked in a last-ditch effort to change Larisa’s mind.
“Not really. Look, if this goes to an arbitrator or court, who do you think they will side with, your client or mine?” Larisa watched as the look on Margot’s face when from cocky to very nervous.
“Give me a moment, I have to call my client,” Margot said, as she got up and walked outside to make her call.
Larisa waited and watched as Margot explained the situation to her client. It looked like the call was getting pretty heated, sure glad I didn’t have to make that call, she thought. Within minutes Margot returned with her tail between her legs
.
“I just spoke with my client, and he reluctantly agreed to sell the property to your client at the agreed upon price.”
“That’s terrific, I’m so glad we were able to save this deal.” Larisa was so relieved, but she felt bad having to play hardball; however, sometimes there is no other choice.
“I’ll be in touch,” Margot said, as she turned to leave.
As Margot was leaving, Molly walked into the conference room to see how things went.
“I’m guessing by the look on Margot’s face that it went in our favor?”
“Sure did. You know, I don’t think Margot’s been doing this very long, she didn’t know some of the basic rules of real estate or anything. I feel kind of bad for her client.”
“Well, maybe she learned something today, and next time, she will do better.”
“Maybe…”
“Would you mind if I took an early lunch today? I need to go down to the Whiskey, on Sunset, to get tickets for a show this weekend.”
“Sure, that’s no problem; I have a couple of listing appointments and a showing, so I’ll be out all afternoon.”
“Hey, did Elsa Gibbons, that broker that was so interested in the bird streets property, ever get in touch with you about a showing?” Molly asked.
“Are you talking about the Roth property?”
“Ya, I spoke with that broker briefly at the open house, and she kept saying how perfect the property would be for her client, but I haven’t heard back from her yet.”
“She called me yesterday, and I am showing her and her client the property this afternoon. I agree, it looks really promising; when she called, she couldn’t stop telling me how much her client wanted to see the house and how much they love that area.”
“They are going to love it. I haven’t seen anything like it anywhere.”
As Larisa was driving to the Roth property for her showing, she noticed a ’74 black Dodge Charger in the turn lane, three lanes over, just like the one her brother Leo had when she
