Seller rejected offer due to not Seeing in person

Buying & Selling Real Estate
1yFollow

Seller rejected offer due to not Seeing in person

Tim B.Pro Member
Real Estate Agent · Los Angeles, CA · Member since 2019 · 38 posts · 20 votes

I am wondering if anyone has been and this situation and has ideas on how to handle this. I am an out of state investor and in the past I have purchased my properties based on video walkthrough that my (trusted) realtor does. I submitted an offer that must have been competitive because the seller responded via email with a counter on terms, then called my realtor and asked if I had seen it in person. I had not, and they decided they didnt want to deal with us anymore. Their prerogative of course, and I understand why a seller would be apprehensive of a buyer that hasn't set their own eyes on a property,  but does anyone have any suggestions or advice on how to get them back talking with me? I thought about resubmitting with a small non-refundable deposit. My offer did include an inspection contingency which I would not be willing to remove, but they didnt seem to have an issue with that specifically. 

0Reply
41 views

Most Popular Reply

Bill B.
Investor · Las Vegas, NV · Member since 2013 · 8k+ posts · 10k+ votes
1y

I think you’r paying the price for shady wholesalers. 

You could/should offer a small non-refundable EMD, say $5k if that's equal to a couple month's rent. You could also ask if you could do your inspection prior to going under contract and then make an offer without the inspection contingency.

The seller 100% does not want to go under contract with someone who isn’t going to close or is going to ask for a discount after it’s under contract. Prior to going pending the power is about 90/10 in favor of the seller after it’s us. Contract it’s about 80/20 for the buyer. 

The last property I sold I countered with 1) the buyer's inspection is a yes/no within 5 days, no discounts will be given. 2) they asked for $5k off and I countered with I would discount up to $5k but the amount of the discount is the amount of EMD that is non-refundable. They put up the non-refundable $5k and closed 45 days later, we were both happy. As a seller I wouldn't let anyone tie up my property that I wasn't AT LEAST 90% sure would close (not wanted to close, not said they would close.) and that number is probably closer to 95%.

TLDR: if you offer a couple months of “rent” as non-refundable earnest money you’ll probably get the deal. Add getting the inspection done prior to going pending and you should be fine. Good luck. 

3Reply
See this reply in the discussion

4 Replies

Jump to latestLatest
  • Bill B.
    Investor · Las Vegas, NV · Member since 2013 · 8k+ posts · 10k+ votes
    1y

    I think you’r paying the price for shady wholesalers. 

    You could/should offer a small non-refundable EMD, say $5k if that's equal to a couple month's rent. You could also ask if you could do your inspection prior to going under contract and then make an offer without the inspection contingency.

    The seller 100% does not want to go under contract with someone who isn’t going to close or is going to ask for a discount after it’s under contract. Prior to going pending the power is about 90/10 in favor of the seller after it’s us. Contract it’s about 80/20 for the buyer. 

    The last property I sold I countered with 1) the buyer's inspection is a yes/no within 5 days, no discounts will be given. 2) they asked for $5k off and I countered with I would discount up to $5k but the amount of the discount is the amount of EMD that is non-refundable. They put up the non-refundable $5k and closed 45 days later, we were both happy. As a seller I wouldn't let anyone tie up my property that I wasn't AT LEAST 90% sure would close (not wanted to close, not said they would close.) and that number is probably closer to 95%.

    TLDR: if you offer a couple months of “rent” as non-refundable earnest money you’ll probably get the deal. Add getting the inspection done prior to going pending and you should be fine. Good luck. 

    3Reply
  • Chris SeveneyBusiness Member
    Moderator
    Investor · VA · Member since 2015 · 21k+ posts · 19k+ votes
    1y

    @Tim B.

    Where is the house? Fly out and visit it.

    We have rejected several offers in the past for buyers who didn’t visit the property and put in an inspection contingency. We would only accept if they waived all contingencies and put $5k in escrow

    7e investments53 Reviews
    WebsiteView Page
    1Reply
  • Tim B.Pro Member
    OP
    Real Estate Agent · Los Angeles, CA · Member since 2019 · 38 posts · 20 votes
    1y
    Quote from @Bill B.:

    I think you’r paying the price for shady wholesalers. 

    You could/should offer a small non-refundable EMD, say $5k if that's equal to a couple month's rent. You could also ask if you could do your inspection prior to going under contract and then make an offer without the inspection contingency.

    The seller 100% does not want to go under contract with someone who isn’t going to close or is going to ask for a discount after it’s under contract. Prior to going pending the power is about 90/10 in favor of the seller after it’s us. Contract it’s about 80/20 for the buyer. 

    The last property I sold I countered with 1) the buyer's inspection is a yes/no within 5 days, no discounts will be given. 2) they asked for $5k off and I countered with I would discount up to $5k but the amount of the discount is the amount of EMD that is non-refundable. They put up the non-refundable $5k and closed 45 days later, we were both happy. As a seller I wouldn't let anyone tie up my property that I wasn't AT LEAST 90% sure would close (not wanted to close, not said they would close.) and that number is probably closer to 95%.

    TLDR: if you offer a couple months of “rent” as non-refundable earnest money you’ll probably get the deal. Add getting the inspection done prior to going pending and you should be fine. Good luck. 

    Thanks, I’m going to give the non-refundable emd a try.
    1Reply
  • Russell BrazilBusiness Member
    Moderator
    Real Estate Agent · Washington, D.C. · Member since 2012 · 17k+ posts · 30k+ votes
    1y

    Large non-refundable EMD will overcome not seeing it in person.

    [email protected]301-893-4635Podcast Guest on Show #192
    District Invest Group545 Reviews
    WebsiteView Page
    0Reply
Join the conversationCreate a free account to reply, vote on answers and follow this thread.
Log InJoin for Free