All Forum Posts by: Jeremy Smothers

Hey everybody,

I’m working on acquiring my first fix-and-flip deal and have a question about how to make my offer as competitive as possible—without wasting anyone’s time.

We're looking at a property with an ARV around $260k that needs about $90k worth of work. I've already walked the property with a general contractor, explained the scope we'd like to accomplish, and received a bid. However, there were some items he couldn't confirm without a more thorough inspection and input from his subs.

These “contingent” line items include things like roof replacement, HVAC replacement, and plumbing servicing. The contractor mentioned the roof and HVAC looked old, but he wasn’t sure they actually needed to be replaced yet.

My question is: Should I leave these items out of my initial offer and adjust later based on the inspection results, or should I assume upfront that they’ll need replacing and build that into my first offer?

I want to present a competitive offer, but I also understand this is a numbers game—having a clean, straightforward offer upfront means I can make more offers in the long run.

Just wanted to hear some opinions. Thanks for your time!