Maine has seen its share of despairing homebuyers writing letters to owners about why they love the house or even offering to move in months after the purchase closes so the owners have more time to find a new home.
If you think it’s hard to buy a home in Maine now, here are some of the extremes prospective buyers in other parts of the country are going to in order to curry favor with sellers to accept their offer in the fiercely competitive housing market, according to a recent national survey by HomeLight, an online real estate marketplace.
— Offering to buy the home using Bitcoin.
— Trying to give the seller two fully paid tickets to a Hawaiian resort.
— Tempting the seller with exotic animals and a car.
— Offering toys and gifts for the seller’s children.
There also was some bad behavior by buyers that sellers reported in the HomeLight survey.
— Lying that the buyer knew the seller’s grandmother.
— Telling the seller their house was on ancestral lands.
— Promising one price but later making an offer at a significantly lower one.