What do you think about making multiple offers at once....on the same house?

Question

I know a successful investor who gives up to 5 offers at once to a seller. They range from "my price, your terms" to "Your price, my terms". Basically: his cash offer, his seller-financing offer, and a few combinations in between. He has a cover page for each and walks the seller through each one. At that point, the seller can't object based on price.

Have any of you tried this? What kinds of responses do you get?

Bill Jones · Answer

What are you out of your mind?  You don't give sellers multiple offers/choices at the same time....Present one if that doesn't work go onto the next, but don't let the seller choose up front...Geez

Richard Dunlop · Answer

The more you can confuse the seller the better???

Jay Hinrichs · Answer

Chris L.

I have done this successfully in the past... usually though on subdivisions I am buying.. and it usually has to do with owners staying in for upside profits. as opposed to cash offers.

with SFRs  usually just either made cash offer... or in the day when you could Legally do a sub too on a pre foreclosure here in Oregon and rent back ( not legal anymore) .. we would just lead with that scenario because the cash offer was not on the table .

Roy N. · Answer

Chris L.

When approaching overwhelmed/tired/retiring landlords, especially those whose property has been sitting on the market for ages, we will often present our cash-offer and a vendor carry offer, along with a narrative which explains the pros and cons of each offer from both the vendors and buyers perspective.

Brian Gibbons · Answer

I do it all the time to expired listings

Sub to,  with or without note

wrap around mortgage

Lease option assignment

All cash

Neal Collins · Answer

While five offers seems high to me, I could see how someone could work it with the right talent. Mostly, though, I wouldn't want to waste my time drafting up five separate offers.

Also, if there are agents involved in the deal this method would be challenging. We once put in an offer on a property and the seller showed the agreement to "her agent friend", who balked at our contract and said that it was illegal to not use the standard real estate form used by realtors. When we pressed about what was so alarming, we were told our agreement mandated that the seller leave all plants, shrubs, trees, and landscaping in place, which apparently was ridiculous to that particular agent....even though this is boilerplate language and unless otherwise agreed, landscaping always is included. In hindsight, I would have loved to have dropped five offers just to blow that agent's mind.

We do like to use two offers. This is still a simple choice, yet powerful to illustrate that we can get the seller a higher purchase price for better terms. This is best to sit face to face with them and walk them through it.

Bill Gulley · Answer

I agree with Bill Jones, place your best offer, if rejected move on, that is negotiating. It also depends on who the seller is, as Roy points out, another investor can look at two offers, they are more likely to understand. Ma and Pa may have a nervous break down and need days to decide, or just wait and see if they get a better offer.

I like Roy's disclosure of each pointing out the benefits and down side, be careful with the downside and not really addressing that side fully. It's also an opportunity to address the downside and how it can be managed! Something I do face to face.

Making 5 offers seems like showing off for the sake of saying he did it, I messed with their minds and lead them to my conclusion.

You never know if they will accept your best offer for you, so ask, giving options not to take your best isn't so wise, your multiple offers can't all be the very best for you, they might just be those you would accept, so why just acceptable, why not the very best deal  you could make for yourself? :)

Bob Baldwin · Answer

i have always brought with me in my brief case Alternate Options which I have at the ready . Each case being different on a few Probate cases where ajoining land was part of the deal and subdividing was possible my prices were close to wholesale on the land a little bit higher if as example the person wanted to keep the house and say 3-5 acres with it . I have even asked if they were interested in Joint venturing on said land ?

On SFH's I do offer a cash price based on What needs to be done to the place . Basicly I try to get a feel for what the sellers Needs are , If there is a mortgage or not . Most of the Older Generations prefer MAX cash they getting at closing .

Some people WILL consider Some creative financing if they are NOT in NEED of A lot of money at one time . Most usually want a Clean Break away with Cash in Hand .

A Great negotiator will Always have Alternate Plans should something unusual come up in the talks . As others have said though Best NOT to confuse the people you are dealing with just the Concept of alternative ways of selling is more than most people want to consider

Mark Ferguson · Answer

I did this once on an REO, but technically it was for two different buyers. One offer was from me as a rental property and the other offer was from my S corp for a flip. i think I confused the listing agent and my hunch is only one of my offers was submitted, but I don't know for sure. I don't think the listing agent liked me anyway. He tried to tell em it was illegal for me to submit an offer on the property because I did BPOs and listed REOs. I had to educate him that I did not work for that particular bank and had never done BPOs for that bank. oh well

What do you think about making multiple offers at once....on the same house?

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