Determining max offer on BRRRR investing

[Michael Travis]

I am getting pretty frustrated because every offer I have put on a property with the intention of renovating has not been accepted and when I find out how much it ended up going for my offer is always significantly lower even though most of the time I go in above asking price. For instance today I put an offer of $325k on a property that was listed at $299k. It was a four family with 4 2 bedroom units. Current rents as is were around $750/month. It was the “worst house on the block” but needed heavy cosmetic work to make it one of the best on the block. I was going to put about $20k into each unit hoping to get about $1100/unit/month expecting the value of the building to be about $425k after renovation. So I would be in it $405k making $25k profits from rehabbing then profits from increased rental revenue. The place ended up going for $375k. My question is how do you know what a competitive offer is on a place when planning on BRRRR investing in a competitive market? Should I expect to make no money on the rehab? I am investing in the city of St. Louis in a very popular area. This place was on the market for under 24 hrs. Any advice on where I went wrong? I have put over 10 offers on properties in the last month and have been unsuccessful of having any offers accepted.

[Jason D.]

I dont feel it's about being "competitive" when talking about investing in rentals, and BRRRRing specifically. You have to buy at a price where the numbers work. If the numbers work at $325, but not at $375, you have to accept that and work on finding the next one. In a hot area, you may have to find off market deals, and stay off of the MLS until thing soften a bit. Never overpay just to buy a property.