I went to look at a flat and it turned out that the agent had booked someone else at the same time to view the flat and then tried to turn it into an unpleasant contest for who could be the first to bring him a deposit, even going as far as saying that we could have a fight about it, even though neither of us had shown any issue with the other.
We were both just standing there open mouthed and staring at him, wondering if he was for real. I decided there and then that it didn't matter how nice the flat was, there was no way I was going to have financial dealings with someone who was that much of an arsehole and told the other guy that as far as I was concerned he could have the flat if he wanted it.
I eventually went with a place that was equally nice, where the agent told me that the only people he had had round so far weren't all that interested, so I could probably take a few days to decide.
So if you are going to always be closing, don't be a dick about it.
Seems like the agent wasn't effectively closing, instead he was setting up a distracting, artificial "contest" between two prospective clients.
If he truly was "always closing", he would have given you his attention and sold each of you individually - and hard - on the merits of the place. (And maybe, parenthetically, mentioned how much interest there was in it among other prospective renters...)
Did you watch the movie clip at the beginning of the article dealing with how to sell real estate?
The aggression of the character played by Baldwin towards his staff is exactly the kind of culture that seems to produce people like the agent I had to deal with.
This is standard practice in NYC and SF. If you're going to look at an apartment, you bring your checkbook and are prepared to leave a deposit on the spot if you want the place.
We were both just standing there open mouthed and staring at him, wondering if he was for real. I decided there and then that it didn't matter how nice the flat was, there was no way I was going to have financial dealings with someone who was that much of an arsehole and told the other guy that as far as I was concerned he could have the flat if he wanted it.
I eventually went with a place that was equally nice, where the agent told me that the only people he had had round so far weren't all that interested, so I could probably take a few days to decide.
So if you are going to always be closing, don't be a dick about it.