Seller Wants to Meet Buyer?
By Jim Palmer Jr.

In a recent unconsummated transaction, the buyer had made a full price cash offer, but the seller refused to sign the deal unless the buyer agreed to meet with them face-to-face. The seller had decided that because they would be continuing their residence of the adjoining property, they would scrutinize any buyer before making the decision to sign. That would require a face to face meeting and an interview of the buyer to ascertain their intent for the future use of the property and to make a judgment of the buyers character as to whether they would allow this “type of person” to live next door. That type of language is a red flag for brokers! Brokers usually take care to insulate their clients from such interaction for a multitude of reasons. Using that conventional cautious logic, the buyer’s agent protested. They said, “Such a judge and jury (the seller) could be exposing themselves to Fair Housing violations and after all, this type of a meeting is highly irregular and risky.” While the buyer ultimately refused to cooperate with such an unconventional interrogation, I wondered if the buyer should consider interviewing the seller to qualify as the type of person to be their new next door neighbor!

It turned out that the well-intentioned seller was actually motivated by the fear that the buyer would start up a marijuana growing operation or other activities they consider undesirable. This deal died a sudden death for other reasons, but the question remains, “did the seller have the right to meet with the buyer and disqualify them based on some personal judgment?” We should all agree that it is wrong and the seller would risk legal exposure if they were to deny the purchaser based on bias against race, color, national origin, religion, sexual orientation or familial status.  But minus that obvious caveat, the seller does have the right to choose to sell to whomever they want! They could even take less money in favor of a purchaser or intended use of the property they simply liked better.

What if the purchaser was someone who had created animosity in the past, such as a mean and ornery neighbor? Minus any unrighteous prejudice, the seller could refuse to show or sell the property to those certain individuals. They are certainly not obligated to sell the property just because they bring a full price offer.