My 2017 quest for the perfect TT!

JAC1982 wrote:
To me it's common sense not to meet a stranger from Craigslist with $6,000 in cash on my person. Too many weirdos out there, for all they know you could be targeting people to rob them. Doesn't mean they don't have the money... they just didn't want to carry it around.

We sold a utility trailer last year for $4,000. The guy came and looked at it and said he wanted to buy it, but didn't have the cash with him. Not a big deal, we didn't really expect him to pull 4 grand out of his pocket on the spot. He came back the next day with it and we finished the sale.

I think you misunderstood my CASH ONLY statement. I don't expect them to have it in their pocket when they first come. To me it means that the person must have the cash to buy it accessible before they come. Like in their bank account. It means that as soon as we strike a deal, they can go get it or we can meet at the DMV and do the deal that day or the next at latest.

But this is Texas, and we have several million people packing heat at all times, concealed and open carry. You don't hear about a lot of people getting mugged here because you would have to be an idiot thief to try to do that in a state with millions of armed citizens that are proficient and trained in pistol use. Just saying.

Jungle,
I feel your pain, trying to sell something that folks need to take out a loan for but you want to sell it fast. As others have stated, not everyone has the ability to plunk down 6k or ever 5k cash, especially if they're buying s little trailer to live in while working an oil field.

You said someone could buy it, but you can't wait until the 28th. That's only two weeks away! If you're that desperate to sell it, drop the price dramatically. I think it's that or dirt on it for a while waiting for someone to get a loan.

Best of luck selling it, I hope you fo so quickly.

BTW, nice truck!

I was going to get into this...but after typing for 15 minutes, I realized that no amount of trying to persuade you to listen to what everyone else said in the last 9 pages will work.

I understand your ethics and all...but you have to look at life. This is 2017 not 1967. Nowadays, people don't do deals with a handshake and a smile. Regardless of what the stock market and Washington says, people are still financially getting over the last big Recession...and some are still floundering in the waves. Expecting a buyer to fall out of the sky with a pocket full of hundreds is nice, but probably not going to happen in the time frame you are expecting for what you are selling.

Stating that you want Cash Only, and then getting upset when a potential buyer shows up, looks it over, and then says I have to get with the bank, or get a loan, etc tells me that you are not looking at this realistically.

I wish you luck...I really do. But unless you can either come down on the price or take the Cash Only thing off (if they want it bad enough, they can go get the cash) you are going to get a lot of bites, but no fish.

****, and I said I wasn't going to get into this...oh well...such is life.

I suspect it's more about your expectations (quick sell; asking price; and cash only) that is the problem.

To me it's common sense not to meet a stranger from Craigslist with $6,000 in cash on my person. Too many weirdos out there, for all they know you could be targeting people to rob them. Doesn't mean they don't have the money... they just didn't want to carry it around.

We sold a utility trailer last year for $4,000. The guy came and looked at it and said he wanted to buy it, but didn't have the cash with him. Not a big deal, we didn't really expect him to pull 4 grand out of his pocket on the spot. He came back the next day with it and we finished the sale.

Unfortunately at 12 years old for a short/non slide trailer you are a bit high especially considering the soft floor. So when they get there and want it for cheaper they are going to be upset.

jungleexplorer wrote:

Ponduke's Brother wrote:
New guy here. Felt the need to reply to this thread. My wife and I, on July 3rd, after a couple weeks of looking for a new camper drove 120 miles to look at one we saw on CL. It was a well-kept 2005 Springdale. Nice little camper but the price was too big and the bed was too small. We walked away. On the way back from that long drive, not 10 minutes from home, I see a Coachmen camper sitting in someone’s front yard with a for sale sign on it. Stopped and got out to look it over. Owner drives up on a golf cart asks if we want to see inside. It’s a 2015 Coachmen Freedom Express 246 RKS. Pretty much the exact camper we were envisioning when we started looking. Light enough for my truck, big enough to not feel too cramped, and inexpensive enough to be in serious consideration. Was in perfect condition and everything worked (well, the interior light in the fridge didn’t work but I figured I could live with that :)). Owner just bought a newer larger Freedom Express so was selling this one. His asking price was great but he went down another 500 and we shook hands.

Here’s the thing though. I did NOT have cash, or could not even write him a check until I did some paperwork at the bank (Yes I had to get a loan. Some of us are crazy that way!) and tomorrow was the 4th of July so the bank wasn’t open. Had the owner been the OP I guess he’d felt like I wasted his time and sent me on my way. Instead I told him the situation, he said no problem so I handed him 100 dollars cash in “earnest money” and told him I’d be back with a check on the 5th and if I flaked on him he just made an easy 100 dollars. Long story short, the wife and I just got back from our first weekend trip to try it out and we love it!

I understand what you are saying, but you have to understand my situation is very different then yours. You were dealing with a person who simply put a sign on their trailer and had a lot of time to find a buyer and sell the trailer. My situation is very different. I need to sell this trailer ASAP.

I have put in my ads the following phrases, CASH ONLY" and "Must Sell Fast". Now if the person had those words in the ad or sign on their trailers, would you have approached them asking them to wait on you? Call me strange but, I expect people to actually READ my ad. I expect them to understand what my conditions are and respect those. When a person, after having read that this is a CASH ONLY sale and that I want a FAST sale, and then show up without out any cash or even the ability to pay in quick order; call me unreasonable, but that is just a little rude in my book. That person is saying by their actions, "We don't care what you want or need. We only care about what we want and need and we want you to bend to our desires." In essence, they are treating me like they would treat an RV dealership, and not a private party. For some reason, there is this unreasonable exception that private sellers should have the same level of customer service as a DEALERSHIP.

Bottom line, if I had the time. I would work with a person, but I don't. I really wanted to sell it to the people that came last night, even though they mislead me into believing that they had the cash when they came out. They really need the trailer and are a nice couple and want to pay my full asking price. But after they got out here they told me they will only get the money on the 28th. This was after I asked them before they came out if they had the money to pay. But they are desperate and I have compassion on them, but that does not change my situation and I absolutely cannot wait until the 28th. I just don't have that prerogative.

I am not trying to be hard, but it is very simple. The first person to put the cash in my hand gets it. I really don't know why that is so hard for people to understand. When a person says, CASH ONLY, maybe they actually mean that. :S

I get it, sure. Guess I missed it being an emergency and it needs to be gone yesterday. My seller sold his house and wanted the camper gone before he moved in three weeks so he was wanting it sold quick as he only had room for one camper and currently owned two at new house but with a little "here's enough money to let you know I am not yanking your chain" he was more than willing to wait two days.

Earnest money and a handshake is how I do all my private deals. You might consider it to weed out the posers verses the "earnest" guy who simply need to get his ducks in a row before he can give you the full amount. Not a refundable deposit, that's worth no more than a limp handshake, but a non-refundable pay me for the time I spent showing you this thing and if you don't buy it, say goodby to this earnest money. I even bought my house on CL doing it this way. Actually it was a ten year old log home that had been completely disassembled by a contractor and stacked on a flatbed tractor trailer and a box trailer. Drove 5 hours, met the guy, had breakfast, looked over the pile of logs, and other assorted pieces, windows, etc. We negotiated for a bit and I handed him a thousand in cash. Told him it's gonna take a few weeks to get a bank to work with me on this lame-brained plan and if I fail you just made a grand for doing nothing but spending a couple hours showing me a stack of lumber and misc. materials (My friends and family thought I'd lost my mind btw). But, we've been living in it for 4 years now and it's truly our dream home at a third of the price of a new log home kit.

Dang Jungle, I have been watching for you to pop back on here and say they bought it. I was ready to scream out JUNGLE IS BUYING DRINK UP!!! WTH :) Hang in there, it will work out and dont let it stress you out.

Ponduke's Brother wrote:
New guy here. Felt the need to reply to this thread. My wife and I, on July 3rd, after a couple weeks of looking for a new camper drove 120 miles to look at one we saw on CL. It was a well-kept 2005 Springdale. Nice little camper but the price was too big and the bed was too small. We walked away. On the way back from that long drive, not 10 minutes from home, I see a Coachmen camper sitting in someone’s front yard with a for sale sign on it. Stopped and got out to look it over. Owner drives up on a golf cart asks if we want to see inside. It’s a 2015 Coachmen Freedom Express 246 RKS. Pretty much the exact camper we were envisioning when we started looking. Light enough for my truck, big enough to not feel too cramped, and inexpensive enough to be in serious consideration. Was in perfect condition and everything worked (well, the interior light in the fridge didn’t work but I figured I could live with that :)). Owner just bought a newer larger Freedom Express so was selling this one. His asking price was great but he went down another 500 and we shook hands.

Here’s the thing though. I did NOT have cash, or could not even write him a check until I did some paperwork at the bank (Yes I had to get a loan. Some of us are crazy that way!) and tomorrow was the 4th of July so the bank wasn’t open. Had the owner been the OP I guess he’d felt like I wasted his time and sent me on my way. Instead I told him the situation, he said no problem so I handed him 100 dollars cash in “earnest money” and told him I’d be back with a check on the 5th and if I flaked on him he just made an easy 100 dollars. Long story short, the wife and I just got back from our first weekend trip to try it out and we love it!

I understand what you are saying, but you have to understand my situation is very different then yours. You were dealing with a person who simply put a sign on their trailer and had a lot of time to find a buyer and sell the trailer. My situation is very different. I need to sell this trailer ASAP.

I have put in my ads the following phrases, CASH ONLY" and "Must Sell Fast". Now if the person had those words in the ad or sign on their trailers, would you have approached them asking them to wait on you? Call me strange but, I expect people to actually READ my ad. I expect them to understand what my conditions are and respect those. When a person, after having read that this is a CASH ONLY sale and that I want a FAST sale, and then show up without out any cash or even the ability to pay in quick order; call me unreasonable, but that is just a little rude in my book. That person is saying by their actions, "We don't care what you want or need. We only care about what we want and need and we want you to bend to our desires." In essence, they are treating me like they would treat an RV dealership, and not a private party. For some reason, there is this unreasonable exception that private sellers should have the same level of customer service as a DEALERSHIP.

Bottom line, if I had the time. I would work with a person, but I don't. I really wanted to sell it to the people that came last night, even though they mislead me into believing that they had the cash when they came out. They really need the trailer and are a nice couple and want to pay my full asking price. But after they got out here they told me they will only get the money on the 28th. This was after I asked them before they came out if they had the money to pay. But they are desperate and I have compassion on them, but that does not change my situation and I absolutely cannot wait until the 28th. I just don't have that prerogative.

I am not trying to be hard, but it is very simple. The first person to put the cash in my hand gets it. I really don't know why that is so hard for people to understand. When a person says, CASH ONLY, maybe they actually mean that. :S

Ponduke's Brother wrote:
New guy here. Felt the need to reply to this thread. My wife and I, on July 3rd, after a couple weeks of looking for a new camper drove 120 miles to look at one we saw on CL. It was a well-kept 2005 Springdale. Nice little camper but the price was too big and the bed was too small. We walked away. On the way back from that long drive, not 10 minutes from home, I see a Coachmen camper sitting in someone’s front yard with a for sale sign on it. Stopped and got out to look it over. Owner drives up on a golf cart asks if we want to see inside. It’s a 2015 Coachmen Freedom Express 246 RKS. Pretty much the exact camper we were envisioning when we started looking. Light enough for my truck, big enough to not feel too cramped, and inexpensive enough to be in serious consideration. Was in perfect condition and everything worked (well, the interior light in the fridge didn’t work but I figured I could live with that :)). Owner just bought a newer larger Freedom Express so was selling this one. His asking price was great but he went down another 500 and we shook hands.

Here’s the thing though. I did NOT have cash, or could not even write him a check until I did some paperwork at the bank (Yes I had to get a loan. Some of us are crazy that way!) and tomorrow was the 4th of July so the bank wasn’t open. Had the owner been the OP I guess he’d felt like I wasted his time and sent me on my way. Instead I told him the situation, he said no problem so I handed him 100 dollars cash in “earnest money” and told him I’d be back with a check on the 5th and if I flaked on him he just made an easy 100 dollars. Long story short, the wife and I just got back from our first weekend trip to try it out and we love it!

x2

I was in the same boat when I bought this last camper, luckily the one I bought was in my cash range. Sometimes though people need a little financing. I looked at many trailers before buying this one. I looked at new, used, and very used.
Anyway good luck hopefully you get a buyer soon.