The Columbo Close

 

The Columbo Close

Written by Jim “Gymbeaux” Brown, October 18, 2025

If you are not old enough to have watched the mystery series Columbo, you missed out on one of the best “closes” of contract negotiations available to everyone free of charge.

Detective Columbo, in almost every episode of the program, would at one or more points, appear to be leaving a suspect when he would turn and say, “one more thing!”  That phrase became synonymous with the Columbo character.

Believe it or not, I used this procedure on a home seller where we apparently hit a snag with the Owners hiring me to put their home on the market.  The presentation went well, at least I thought it did.  It became evident that the owners were gradually changing their minds about hiring me as their REALTOR®.  It was at that point I made the decision that I had nothing to lose since they seemed to have already made up their mind not to hire me. 

To fully understand this situation, let me paint you a picture.  I had the materials I would use to help the sellers understand why hiring me to represent them in the sale of their home would have made perfect sense.  Therefore, when it became obvious that I was not going to get the listing on the home during this visit/presentation, I had to put my tail between my legs and gather up all of my presentation materials, put it all into my brief case and bid them good night.  Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose.  I was not in the habit of losing a listing where I believed the sellers were motivated to properly price the property to sell and prepare the property for the first potential buyer to see it at its best.  You can never guarantee a seller that you will sell the property unless you are prepared to buy it yourself.  Some real estate agents make that promise to sellers.  What most people fail to realize is that buying a home if it does not sell, requires the seller to make serious concessions to their REALTOR® because the agent that buys the home will immediately put the home back on the market to sell.  The listing price is usually lower than the price the sellers had set and the price the agent paid for the property is considerably lower than what the sellers had wanted.  This program works where the sellers have a timing issue and need to sell quickly and move on with their lives.  They are prepared to sell to the agent at a price below market value enabling the agent to then sell the property and be able to make a profit on the sale.  Sounds confusing and it usually is.

On this night, I was completely baffled as to why the sellers did not want to list their property with me.  Oftentimes it involves a previously conducted interview with a different REALTOR® that the listing agent, me, typically would be unaware of.  On this night I recalled what Columbo would have done had he been the real estate agent.

By packing up all of my gear and giving the sellers the impression I was only moments away from walking out the front door, I had subconsciously put the sellers at ease because I was leaving without the listing and they felt comfortable in their decision.  This time was different.  As I reached for the front door handle, I paused, looked back at Mr. & Mrs. Seller and hit them with the Columbo close (remember, I had nothing to lose at this point and neither do you whether you are listing a home or selling a product or service to a potential buyer). 

As I turned, I said something to the effect, “I hope you don’t mind but what is the real reason you elected not to place your home on the market with my company and/or me?”  I could have used Columbo’s actual words, “One more thing…”  The trick is DO NOT SAY ANTOHER WORD, let the customer make the next comment once you ask the question.

As it turned out, the real reason they were reluctant to list with me had nothing to do with me or my company and had everything to do with a date on the listing agreement – THE EXPIRATION DATE!    They explained that they felt an expiration date of SIX MONTHS OUT, seemed excessive and to them that meant I did not think the home would quickly sell. 

I then said something to the effect, “Oh my goodness, I realize I did not explain that very well for you, if you don’t mind, let me cover why the date is important and the steps that you and I can take to minimize the “sticker stock” of a six-month expiration date.” 

It only took about 10 minutes of discussion and they did list their home with me.  Here is a brief explanation of what I gave as a more detailed explanation.

“If you list your home with an agent who willingly gives them a very short expiration date, it is doubtful that the agent will do much marketing because they may not be around when the home sells.  A good agent realizes that marketing and advertising is not something that happens instantly with results pouring in immediately, it typically takes time unless of course the seller sets a price on the property so low that it would sell very quickly.  The six-month expiration date gives the agent some assurance that the process of marketing property will begin immediately and even with a quick beginning, it may take weeks or months of showing the property and negotiating the contracts with the buyers and sellers for it to sell and properly close.”

It is what I said next that sealed the deal.  “My broker has confidence in my ability to list and sell properties.  The broker had very little financial responsibility to market the property; that responsibility was all mine to absorb.”  I explained that to the sellers and then told them: “I feel so good about the salability of your home and how our relationship could only get better over time because I trusted you and hopefully you trust me.”  I also explained that my Broker gave me the authority to enter all information onto the Listing Agreement that I felt comfortable agreeing to.  “In this regard, if you (the sellers) ever felt that I was not performing up to your expectations, I had the authority to cancel the listing agreement.  I am willing to put this guarantee in writing and all that I ask in return is that you give me a heads-up when you feel I am not doing my best to market your beautiful home.  To accomplish this, I would ask that you give me your request to cancel the listing in writing and you give me two weeks advance notice of the effective date.  The agreement to cancel is also a guarantee by you to me that you have not agreed to sell your home to someone who approaches you and asks that you go around the listing agreement as this HAS happened before throughout the industry.  It is pretty straight forward with no ifs ands or buts.  When you list your home with a REALTOR® like me, you are hiring me as your employee.  I want you to love your decision to hire me and hold me accountable to perform the tasks that I have described to you.  Will that be okay with both of you?  If so, and if you agree to the Listing Agreement, I can get started as soon as I get back to my desk to get your home as much exposure that I can possibly give it in the first 48 hours.  What do you think?  Can we start the process this evening?”

“One more thing” reopened the negotiation and the sellers agreed to hire me on the spot.  The home eventually sold and everyone was happy with the transaction.

My advice to homeowners is that Listing Agreements are usually all the same within a specific real estate company and may be the same if the State requires the use of a specific form/format.  Even then, provided it is NOT against the law, you can amend the contents of an agreement whether it is a listing agreement or a purchase agreement as long as you do it in writing and sign the amendment accordingly.  This is precisely what I did in this situation.

Another very strong piece of advice I offer to anyone who makes a living using contracts that require everyone to agree to and sign – NEVER BE THE ONE TO GIVE THE FINAL REJECTION OF A CONTRACT.  ALWAYS MAKE THE OTHER PARTY REJECT THE TERMS OF THE CONTRACT.  This may mean that you simply go back to the other party with the exact same contract that they tried to amend signaling that you have reached your red line that you will not cross.  Let the other party actually reject the contract; not you.

You will experience far more success if you are willing to think and act “outside of the box.”  There is usually more than just one way to complete a task.  Find what works for you and your customers and then practice, practice, practice!