Reading too much into a properties # days on the market?
While listening to one of the recent BP podcasts and the idea of analysis paralysis I remembered how yesterday I was looking at a property that I felt would be a pretty good multifamily buy. When I noticed it had been on the market for about 2 months, my first thought was that this property would have been snatched up if it was a good property. I keep thinking that if I do not find a property and look to close on it quickly after it is posted on the MLS then all the ones with good cashflow will be taken. Am I reading too much into this idea that "properties still on the market must have something wrong with them" idea? Anyone else over think things in a similar way? Thanks for the help!
I run into the same thing all the time. You have to realize that real estate investing I a very small world, it really is. Now, of that small world, its broken up into smaller worlds...people who flip houses, wholesale, buy and hold, lend, etc.
Many of the flippers/wholesalers don't get properties off the MLS so they aren't looking very carefully, they are busy with direct mail and other advertising to buy houses the cheapest.
So my point is buy and holders are a very small niche within a small world. And we are all spread out in different areas. So when you see a property on MLS that looks good, as long as you did a proper analysis and everything works, its a good property for you. There aren't as many people looking for exactly what you want in your area as you would think.
Just trust the numbers and do you due diligence....maybe that rental is just for you
I like the saying, "Better to buy a great house at a fair price than a fair house at a great price".
If the numbers work for your criteria, then it's a good deal for you. Don't worry about anything else. You always want to get it cheaper, but you can also bid yourself out of deal after deal doing that. If the numbers work, they work.
If you have an equation you are happy with, and a house fits, move on it. If it doesn't fit, pass on it.
I have a slightly different perspective - when I see a property that has a long DOM (e.g. 60 - 90 days, or even better, 180 days), I actually dig deeper. The asking price is indeed probably over market value, which is why it has been on the market for a while - but, it also "may" mean that the owner is motivated to move (sell) the property. If a property has been on the market for say 120 days at $50k, a motivated seller may be impatient and sell for $40k just to move on. This doesn't happen all the time, but it does happen on occasion - each situation is unique.