I had a deal fall apart last month because of a garden gnome. I wish I was kidding. We were three weeks into escrow, inspections done, appraisal came in fine, loan was cruising through underwriting. Everyone's happy. Then my buyers do their final walkthrough and notice the sellers removed this ugly ceramic gnome from the front flower bed. Suddenly my buyers are convinced the gnome was "hiding something" in the garden. Foundation crack? Buried oil tank? Portal to hell? Who knows. They demanded the sellers dig up that entire flower bed to prove nothing was wrong underneath. Sellers refused. Called my buyers "unhinged" in an email they definitely meant to send just to their agent but CC'd everyone. Buyers fired back calling the sellers "suspicious gnome hoarders." The whole thing escalated into the most ridiculous email chain I've ever witnessed. Accusations flying, lawyers getting mentioned, grown adults using caps lock like it's 2003. Deal died over a $40 garden decoration that the sellers had actually thrown in the trash. I found that out after both parties had already walked away. I keep a tiny gnome on my desk now as a reminder that anything can kill a deal. Anything.