Investor · Frankfort, IL · Member since 2015 · 206 posts · 55 votes
shame on me for not putting the properties under contract. I was trying to quadruple check everything and learned a very expensive lesson.
I was shopping a lender to see if they'd find the deal before I submitted an offer and pretty sure it bit me in the ***. I didn't tell anyone but my inner circle about the actual properties. Yesterday I sent my rehab worksheets and final proposal to my local lender and bam properties under contract today.
Now these aren't properties just listed. They've been sitting over 60 days. I over analyze everything and just so many coincidences that someone had to of gotten ahold of my proposal. I'm placing backup offers but doubt they'll get anywhere.
You now know the mistake you made and have hopefully learned that the time to build relationships (lenders, buyers, etc.) is before you find a deal, not after. Never forget that money is always chasing deals, not vice versa.
Fortunately for me being in commercial real estate as an agent I was able to witness this firsthand before I had a chance to make that mistake myself. As a rule of thumb (or in client cases as a rule of fiduciary duty) whether working on a property for myself or a client, never disclose any details of a deal to anyone who is not a party to the transaction until the deal has closed. I learned early on that loose lips sink ships and you have nothing to gain from relaying information unless you or your client have the property under control or closed.
Its a terrible lesson to learn the hard way, but I'm sure that you won't make the same mistake. Just always remember the past is the past, move on and learn from what happened. Mistakes aren't always really mistakes, just lessons in disguise.