All Forum Posts by: Michael Lee

@Billy Smith, @Andrew R. Lucas Appreciate the responses. Great points on perception of investors as well as properties that have tried to sell for long time. Both of your responses made me think about reframing my question and narrow its scope. With the given that I need to keep making offers and that more offers = higher likelihood that one will get accepted, how do you go about making lower/investor-type offers and not get a negative or hostile response?

Just as an aside, the one I bought last year I offered above list price and closed right at it bc I knew this was a deal. So it obviously depends on the situation but this is more for distressed properties, been on market for long time, or something else that makes them high risk

@Diane G. Interesting...agreed that being patient works out over the long term. Thanks!

@Colleen F. Great point...I've done the same

This was my thinking for property #2 actually since it went under contract then came back on after going through inspections. My assumption being whoever thought about buying it bailed bc of the condition. It felt vulnerable to me so took a shot with 'as-is' offer. Plan to keep an eye on it and revisit later if still available

@Ola Dantis Great points...thanks!

@Corby Goade That is something else that I never considered either as far as trying to get a property under contract then trying to negotiate. Great suggestion

@Scott Graham That is insane

@Greg Franck Never thought about it like that but very true

@Michael Noto Definitely...thanks!

@Courtney Fricke Very cool what you've done so far! I am naturally NOT creative and NOT patient so will have to actively work on that haha. Thanks for suggestions on hunting for deals elsewhere as well.

@Joe Splitrock I just re-read your response and wanted to ask a follow-up. I had to leave out certain details in my original post but for Property 2, the 20k repair estimate were for things that I knew needed to be done just from what I could see, i.e. new roof, hvac, painting, etc.  But the house has old termite damage, potential flooring issues, and other things that will likely need to be addressed. So how do you factor in this additional risk or cushion for the 'unknown'? I thought I was doing that by offering 92k and was willing to come up a bit but just did not feel comfortable with 115. Thanks

Really appreciate the awesome responses from everyone so far! I've had some time now to reflect on this experience and assess why exactly I was frustrated. Oddly enough, it didn't have anything to do with my offers getting rejected since, as many of you have pointed out, you don't make 'lowball' offers thinking they'll get accepted (esp in this FIRE hot market). But I think I was frustrated by 1) not being able to start any sort of dialogue with the seller or other agent. I think this is all I was looking for with either of these deals bc neither one were 'deals of a lifetime' or anything like that. I was interested in them and wanted to gauge if my analysis/numbers had any chance of working. I feel like this didn't happen bc I either communicated poorly to the other agent or came across as inappropriate/unprofessional which was not my intent. This is something I need to work on moving forward. Also, 2) as mentioned before, I was getting too emotionally involved in the negotiations and when I didn't get the results I wanted, it made me second guess every little thing that I did, whether it was on the phone speaking to the agent, via email, etc. I think my confidence took a hit which is silly based on what we all know.

One takeaway from all of this is I think I need to consider working with an agent when I'm trying to purchase a property for myself. After all, there's a reason why there are agents, lawyers, etc bc it's a completely different dynamic when trying to represent/advocate for oneself compared to doing it for others. That's why I spoke to my BIC to ask if he'll help me on deals moving forward. He asked why I never asked him before and all I could think of was that I didn't want to bother him when I could do it myself. In hindsight, this was incredibly short-sighted by me as I have a network of people around me who are more than willing to help. I learned two things from this experience: 1) leave the emotions out as this will dramatically decrease the stress level during what should be a fun process; and 2) ASK for help

@Jonathan R McLaughlin Great advice...thanks. That's how I left it with that agent and I think we're both going to follow up with each if anything changes

@Andrew Johnson Sorry, I meant my broker-in-charge. I wasn't using a broker in these two negotiations, which as @Russell Brazil mentioned, may be something I need to consider (will elaborate more on that below). But earlier when I discussed the details with him, he made some great points as to what I did well vs what I did not so well haha. One of which was providing my own comps as this may have come across as unprofessional/disrespectful when I thought I was being logical/reasonable

@Joe Splitrock, @Julie N., @Courtney Fricke Thanks for your responses! As for cash offers, I don't think I'm able to do that quite yet unless it's $70k or below but def will keep wholesalers in my area on the radar