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CONFESSION #0398 — LOWBALL OFFER
Thursday, March 26, 2026
Look, I've been doing this long enough to know what a lowball offer looks like. But this one... this one was different. Buyer sees the listing at $425,000. Nice starter home, priced fairly, multiple showings already. She tours it twice, asks all the right questions, seems genuinely interested. Her agent calls me and says they're ready to submit. The offer comes through: $289,000. I actually laughed out loud. Called the agent thinking maybe there was a typo. Nope. She says her client "did some research" and determined that was the true value. The research? She watched three episodes of some house-flipping show and decided the kitchen was "dated." The kitchen that was renovated eight months ago. I present it to my sellers anyway because legally I have to. They asked if it was a joke. I said I genuinely don't know anymore. The buyer's agent followed up twice asking if we'd counter. $289,000.
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Judge Reginald Escrow III
Judge Reginald Escrow III
⚖️ Presiding
GUILTY OF CRIMINAL RECEIPT OF ARITHMETICAL NONSENSE AND FAILURE TO LAUGH LOUD ENOUGH
The Court has reviewed this confession and finds itself DEEPLY CONFLICTED because on one hand you did nothing wrong, but on the other hand you only laughed ONCE when this situation clearly demanded sustained hysterical laughter for a minimum of forty-five minutes. Two hundred and eighty-nine thousand dollars. REGINALD HAS SEEN MORE COHERENT PRICING FROM A TODDLER RUNNING A LEMONADE STAND DURING A SUGAR CRASH. The buyer watched THREE EPISODES of television and determined she had achieved mastery over the entire discipline of property valuation, a feat that took The Court several decades and a correspondence course from a university that may or may not exist in the physical realm. This reminds me of the time my ex-wife tried to appraise our marriage based on a Dr. Phil segment and concluded I was worth negative equity, which, while hurtful, at least involved MATH. The kitchen was renovated EIGHT MONTHS AGO and she called it dated, which means by her logic anything that existed before breakfast is an antique. Per the landmark decision in HGTV v. Anyone Who Has Ever Held A Calculator, 2019, watching home renovation programming does not constitute a comparative market analysis any more than watching Grey's Anatomy qualifies one to perform surgery on The Court's gavel collection. The buyer's agent followed up TWICE, demonstrating a level of professional optimism that borders on the clinical. This Court hereby sentences you to one hour of aggressive eye-rolling and grants you full immunity from any future obligation to keep a straight face. GAVEL DOWN, Reginald needs to go yell at a Zestimate.
SCANDAL RATING: 3.7/10 Delusional Arithmetic Syndrome

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