Writing offers before walk through

[Thomas Lowe]

How often do you guys write offers before doing a walk through, based on the numbers?

I’m looking at small multi family, and I’d like to increase my chances of getting an offer accepted by simply writing more offers. I’m wondering if maybe I should just start writing offers contingent upon satisfaction of a walk through.

[Charlie MacPherson]

@Thomas Lowe  I'll respectfully disagree with others who say that it's a great idea.

When I was an agent, I would advise my seller to refuse offers before a site visit.

The reason is that I knew that such offers would be far more likely than usual to blow up. You might get away with tying a property up like that with an uneducated FSBO, but someone with a sharp agent (like me) won't let you. That's because I have a plan to generate a bidding war.

When I was practicing, I'd list on a Thursday so that the listing is tagged as "new" right through the weekend, gaining extra views.  I'd state "no showings until the open house, Sunday 1-3 PM" and "Offers due by Tuesday at 5 PM.  That would maximize the chances of buyers tripping over each other so they all know that there's a lot of competition. 

Once I had more than one offer, I'd send out a multiple offer notification, requesting highest and best offers by Thursday at 5 PM.

So now you see the new listing and call me.  You want to write an offer aimed at short-circuiting my elaborate plan that works like a charm to get my seller the highest possible offer and the best possible terms. 

Nope.  Not happening.

For listed properties, you'll get more offers accepted by following the game as it's traditionally played. Run your numbers, see the property, figure out what it's worth and write an offer. Improve your chances of success by eliminating as many contingencies as you can, giving a very large EMD and not low balling.

I hope that helps!