I had a deal last month that was three days from closing. Three days. Both parties had signed everything, the inspections were done, the appraisal came in fine, we were literally just waiting for the final walkthrough. Then the buyer's agent calls me and says her clients drove by the house at night and saw the neighbor had a political yard sign they disagreed with. They wanted to back out. Over a yard sign. That would be gone in two weeks after the election anyway. I spent four hours on the phone trying to save this deal. Called the listing agent, called my broker, even looked up whether we could somehow ask the neighbor to temporarily remove it, which of course we couldn't and shouldn't. They walked away and forfeited their earnest money. Eight thousand dollars gone because of a yard sign for a local school board candidate. My sellers had already packed their entire house and put a deposit on their new place. I had to make that call. I sat in my car for twenty minutes before I could dial. Sometimes this job makes me question everything.