Thanks for this advice - it has helped. I have told the would-be buyer that I am not taking a deposit to hold the horse - especially a refundable one as she has no risk if she doesn’t proceed. I will give her a heads-up if someone else comes to see the mare. She and her coach are coming up mid-Sept. and then if the coach likes the horse, I’ll ask for a deposit to hold her until a PPE can be done.
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Can someone explain this one to me? Why should the seller offer ROFR to a buyer who has already shown she can’t follow through quickly and whose trainer hasn’t even approved of the horse yet? I feel like it would put undue pressure on the buyer to buy a horse who may not even be suitable, while pissing off another buyer who has already proven they’re more serious.
Also, as a seller I don’t show a horse to anyone without telling them someone else already has a “claim.” For example, the last horse I sold had a lot of interest all at once and the first person to try her ended up putting a deposit but couldn’t schedule the vetting for about 10 days. I let the other people know they were welcome to come try her but that she was pending vetting. I feel like it’s bad business to let someone spend their time trying a horse then tell them, “Actually no, I can’t sell it to you until this other person makes up their mind.”
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Sounds clear and fair to me. I think this is what most folks would do. I like following something like Best Practices for an industry when I’m doing business within it. It saves confusion and disappointment.
Glad you have a solution. Another idea in this type of situation would be to take a deposit that is refundable until another buyer shows serious interest. IOW horse is still marketed, new potential buyers can try her, but are informed there is one person in line ahead of them. If they’re interested, tell the original buyer and she can make the deposit nonrefundable or walk away.
Pros: You have money in hand so buyer’s attachment to buying horse is more solid. You can keep marketing.
Cons: Some buyers would be put off by being told they’re 2nd in line.
The potential buyer is asking the seller to hold the horse for another month with a “refundable” deposit which is an unrealistic request. No doubt, the seller feels the buyer has expressed some requisite level of interest by spending time and money to travel six hours (each way) to try the horse and the seller is searching for some reasonable middle ground. The seller can say “NO” to the buyer’s request for a 30 refundable deposit and risk tanking the negotiations, or the seller can say “Ms. Buyer, I cannot meet your request, but this is what I can offer instead.” It all depends on whether the seller wants to keep the buyer engaged in the process or not.
The seller didn’t create the situation. The buyer did. If the buyer is unprepared to make a decision, perhaps she shouldn’t be shopping just yet. This is an unappreciated aspect of horse selling. Often buyers fail to realize they are not the only interested party, and the seller is likely to be fielding interest from multiple buyers.
I would agree. OP shouldn’t show the horse to other interested parties without disclosing the horse has a deposit on it if that is the case. I think that is why the majority of posters are advising against a deposit. It puts handcuffs on the OP without requiring the buyer to put any real skin in the game.
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I’d personally be inclined to think that any coach who can’t get there before six weeks from now isn’t worth dealing with. After all, I’ve been informed it’s not an Atlantic crossing so she should just be able to pop out.
I don’t actually understand why newbies shop themselves and then pull in a coach. Either let the coach find you horses, for which you pay for that service and their abilities in selection, or look by yourself, but I’ve never seen it work out that the newbie magically finds a horse herself that the coach agrees on. What actually happens is newbie falls in love with whatever horse, trainer gets worn down and agrees, and then it’s not suitable in the end.
Be sure to make that deposit non-refundable IF the horse passes the PPE and they decide not to buy.
