Offers Getting Rejected Left n Right

Offers Getting Rejected Left n Right

Columbia, SC · Member since 2015 · 88 posts · 55 votes

Hello all,

It's been a frustrating couple weeks for me as I've been making offers to try and purchase a 2nd rental property so thought I'd ask for some feedback and/or tips on how to get better at this moving forward.  Any suggestions are welcome!

Offer #1: SFH in 'A' location for my market (Columbia, SC). List price, in my opinion, is about $20k too high based on comps and talking to other experienced RE professionals that know the market well. I think ARV is 135-137k max and it needs apprx 15k in repairs. So I offered 105k purchase price, As-is (I'll omit other relevant terms but fairly standard on those) while also sending a detailed chart of recent comps as analysis behind my offer (not in a pushy or know-it-all way). Well I feel like the other agent didn't do a great job explaining the context of the offer to the seller, and it was implied that they were very upset by the 'lowball' offer and countered back at virtually list price. I said that was fine and would circle back at a later time but when I asked the agent for details on how they got to their current valuation, I didn't really get a good/logical answer.

Offer #2: SFH in 'B+' location. This is a property that's been in a family for long time but two siblings now want to sell. Priced well for the area but does need about 20k in repairs/updates. Also, it went under contract almost immediately after listing (I'm assuming for full price) but recently came back on and based on context, I think it got ripped apart during inspection/termite report. ARV is about 145-150. I offered 92k purchase price, As-is, and was countered at 115k. No way I am comfortable paying anywhere near that with the risk involved so this one doesn't seem very promising at this point either.

Again, I realize I'm not exactly making full-price offers and most sellers would/should turn them down. But the fact that I'm getting shut down has been disheartening a bit. Do I just need to chalk it up to the game, move on, and keep swinging away or can I work on my approach to get some better results?

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Real Estate Investor · Macedon, NY · Member since 2016 · 251 posts · 290 votes
8y

@Michael Lee, don't give up.  I'm just finishing my first flip.  The house was listed at $64,900 and I offered $28,500, first time they didn't even counter.  They lowered the price $5,000 about 30 days later, I made the same offer.  I made the same offer every 30 days for 6 months.  The came down approximately an additional $5,000 after each offer I made.  Month 7, I bought it for $30,000.  

The market will prove one of the two of you right.  Wait 30 days, resubmit your offer.  The seller may eventually decide you were right and sell it to you or the market may decide they were right and it will sell to someone else at a higher price.

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  • Investor · Columbia, SC · Member since 2015 · 57 posts · 7 votes
    8y
    Hi Michael, what do you typically look for in the Columbia market?
  • SFR Investor · South Bend, IN · Member since 2013 · 342 posts · 56 votes
    8y

    @Michael Lee I just found this post - how are you doing now ?

  • Columbia, SC · Member since 2015 · 88 posts · 55 votes
    8y

    Hey @Amie D. I'm still searching for that next deal but focusing a lot more on talking to people in my network to find off-market deals as well as sending out letters to absentee owners/landlords. This has led to several prospects, which I take as a good sign, but just haven't been able to land anything yet. But I think this will have to be the way to go in the future especially in this market.

    As for the two properties that I mentioned in the original post, they actually recently sold for close to what I offered which is somewhat disappointing knowing that I was in fact close; but also feel good that my analysis is solid, just my execution is lacking. I'm hoping this will improve with more experience.

  • SFR Investor · South Bend, IN · Member since 2013 · 342 posts · 56 votes
    8y

    Ok good to know. I’m in the process of relocating and my chosen city is actually a seller’s market. I’m actually considering moving instead to a different city that is appreciating but not exploding and is still a buyer’s market. Properties are also cheaper there too! 

    I honestly didn’t get the posters who said you were offering too low though. Offer asking price minus remodeling costs and you end up in the hole on a flip. Unless you count appreciation, which isn’t that reliable. 

  • Investor · Member since 2020 · 16 posts · 1 vote
    6y

    @Michael Lee

    Wanted to check if you ended up closing a deal? and if so, how many offers you had to put?

    in the last few weeks, I made 8 offers already all rejected so far.

    started thinking if I'm doing something wrong and saw this helpful post!

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