A House By The Park

Calling the seller directly last week turned out to be a great idea. Our rapport is excellent and we’ve already traded several phone calls and a number of long, well-reasoned e-mails backing up our positions and compromises. To try and describe the emotional rollercoaster of this back-and-forth in a blog entry would not do it justice. It’s very trying, but it’s also been very educational. Negotiating the sale of your company is both very different and very similar to negotiating the purchase of your home.

So anyway, very long story short, I eventually came up $150,000 from my initial bid (which is still $150,000 less than the asking price), offered to put down $100,000 in earnest money and waive all contingencies except geotech, and the seller has tentatively accepted! I’m happy with where we ended up, because it was the exact dollar amount that I decided from the outset I would be 100% comfortable with. I won’t exhale until we have a signed contract, but it appears we’re within eyesight of the finish line!

Will try to get a good night’s sleep tonight after a week of tossing, turning, and overanalyzing.