There’s always something to howl about.

Ask the Audience: How do you defend your own paycheck?

This came in as an Ask the Broker question:

Thanks for having this site.

We found the house we like and we made the offers and counter offers, finally getting to a place where we got stuck. The seller does not want to came down on her price and we cannot pay more. We are $20,000 apart.

What I would like is for all parties involved — the buyer, the seller and the two agents — to come to the table to make up the difference.

Have you heard of a situation like this?

Alas, I have.

I can be pretty free about using commission dollars to solve problems with transactions, but there are constraints. I will rebate every cent of an untoward commission or bonus, and I don’t hesitate to pay out of my own pocket to make problems go away.

But: My money is mine to do with as I choose.

I can address the problem posed by the question with a very simple analogy:

If your employer decided to buy a company car for his own use, would he be justified in asking you to kick in $1,000 toward the purchase price?

That clarifies that.

But take up the problem as a Realtor or lender: What would be the optimal response to an appeal like this?

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