Trouble Viewing Occupied Properties?

[Brandon Norlund]

Hey everyone, looking into purchasing a multifamily unit (du-quad). Contacted the listing agent on one yesterday and he said the owner would not set up a viewing until we had submitted an offer that the owner accepted. He also said this is very common. Has anyone run into this? Is it really common to do it that way? He said we could get out of the offer if we came across issues upon inspection, but still...

Just to give you an idea of where I am coming from with this, I don't really see how I can put a realistic offer in on a property that I haven't seen. It is hard to know how much rehab is going to be required based off of a few pictures. It seems to me like the owner is not motivated to sell, or they have something to hide. Thoughts?