All Forum Posts by: Kim Nelson

Here's my take on it. 

You just need to do your due diligence and dig into the real reason. Sometimes it may just be that the seller thinks its worth more than it is and refuses to come down on the price. In my experience, it is worth simply reaching out to your realtor first. I have seen some properties on MLS that I contact my realtor and they may know right away the reason it isn't selling from showing it previously, or they can review the realtor comments that aren't viewable by the public on MLS.

Other potential reasons I have seen properties listed on MLS for a long time.

1) Some investors may not be comfortable inheriting existing tenants.

2) It may be it is a class C neighborhood. 

3) Structural issues. (Foundation, etc)

4) Black mold, asbestos, lead paint, other other costly repairs. 

5) It need significant cosmetic repairs where the purchase price just isn't worth it. 

6) They may have an odd layout of the rooms. 

7) Non-compliant septic.

8) Trouble with permits or tenants

9) Listing agent has a poor or incorrect listing. (For example, they have the square footage, lot size, or # of rooms incorrect.)

10) The value of the property just simply isn't worth what you would have to pay for it. (Maybe the seller has a great interest rate, but you would have to pay twice that amount which wouldn't be profitable.)

11) Crime in the neighborhood. 

12) High turnover in tenants (raising your expenses.)

Just make sure and do you due diligence before hand. 

We have been able to get some great deals simply by doing extra research that the average person wasn't willing to do. A recent purchase was a lake house that wasn't selling. When looking into it, the basement had water damage that didn't worry us since we knew how to remodel that area ourselves. However, another factor was that the septic tank was shared with the neighbor and there were no written agreements in place as to who was responsible for expenses. We wrote into our purchase agreement that a separate septic agreement needed to be drawn up and attached to the recorded deed for all future owners which protected us and the other home owner,  and will make it easier to sell in the future with that in place. 

Good luck!