All Forum Posts by: Lori Greene

Investors need comps. Agents need customers.

RealEstateCompsToday.com has now created a complimentary business model that brings investors and agents together in a mutually beneficial relationship.

Here's how it works:

Investors can now go online at RealEstateCompsToday.com to order MLS Comps from a Licensed Local Investor Friendly Agent in the area of the property for about 5 bucks. All they have to do is fill out a short order form with a little info about the property.

Real Estate Comps Today then assigns the comps order to an agent in their network who lives in that area. The agent runs the comps report and emails it to the investor offering further assistance. Simple as that!

Investors love the convenience of it. Agents love building new relationships. Win. Win.

If you are an investor, order your comps today at RealEstateCompsToday.com. If you are an agent, start building new customer relationships today by Joining our National Network of Real Estate Agents at RealEstateCompsToday.com/Agents.

Unless you are both an investor and an agent, you likely have an issue in common with most of us . . . getting comps consistently to evaluate potential deals over and over and over again.

But even if you are an investor/agent, you wouldn't have MLS access to every market. Wouldn't it be great if you could get MLS comps anywhere, whenever you want, as often as you want with having to contact agent after agent?

There is now a solution that resolves all of these issues. You can now simply order Local MLS Comps Online from an agent in your area. was created by investors for investors. They have a National Network of investor friendly real estate agents in every market in the U.S.

All you have to do is fill out a little information about the property and you'll have your comps delivered by email within about a day, everytime. It's fast, easy and hassle free.

Investors love it because it's so convenient and consistent. Agents love it because it helps them build relationships. 

My pleasure. Good to meet you Paul!

All of us investors have dealt with this issue: Getting an agent to give you comps over and over and over again. It can take it's toll on even the most investor friendly agents.

But what if you could simply go online as often as you want to order comps anywhere in the U.S. from a local agent who knows the area of your property?

Well, now you can. Now there's an MLS Comps Website created by investors for investors. They have a nationwide network of real estate agents ready to pull your comps. And they rotate the orders through the available agents in the area so you can get to know several agents who can assist you whenever you need.

Because this service was created by investors, they know the needs of investors. They personally inspect every comps report sent by the agents to make sure your specific needs are being met. You can even get comps on commercial properties and land lots. And they will give you a 1-on-1 consultation from an REI Expert to help you go over your comps report analysis or for any real estate related questions or strategies.

You're probably wondering how expensive a service like this would be. Luckily it's super affordable, only $4.95 for a basic comps report. And they have monthly discount memberships if you want to pay even less for your comps reports.

Just fill out the 2 minute order form with a few details about the property and you'll get your comps by email from a licensed local agent within about a day. Simple as that. No more calling around to find an agent every time you find a new deal.

It's a dream come true for investors. Get your comps and property value analysis today at RealEstateCompsToday.com.

1. Curb Appeal: Power wash the exterior first, then paint trim & doors and garage door. Groom your yard and add landscaping lights. Power wash or refinish your driveway.

2. Paint the interior walls, doors and trim.

3. Replace Flooring: Engineered floating locking floors and stained concrete are inexpensive and easy to install yourself but add huge value. Add rugs for personality.

4. Fixtures and hardware are low cost updates to make, give your place a whole new look and add great value.

5. Update Kitchen and Baths: Updating your kitchen and bathrooms can cost a bit more but are the most impactful upgrades you can make for higher value because they are so important to home buyers.

Read the Entire Article at: https://www.realestatecompstoday.com/

If you've found some potential deals and you're trying to decide which ones will make the best investments, this is where comps can make all of the difference. You can't run accurate numbers unless you're starting with an accurate value. And you need an accurate value analysis to tell which deals are the best ones.

So, the next step is to get MLS Comps from a realtor who knows the area of the subject property very well. Once you have your comps, you can then start your analysis.

If you don't have a great real estate agent you can get them from immediately, you can now order them online at RealEstateCompsToday.com. It only takes 2 minutes to fill out the form and costs 5 bucks.

Once you submit your order, it will be immediately sent to an agent who is an expert in the neighborhood market of your subject property. The agent will pull your detailed comps and email them to you within about 1 business day.

Real Estate Comps Today has agents in every market in the U.S. even in rural areas. They'll also run comps on undeveloped land lots and commercial properties

Whatever you do, DO NOT USE an estimated value from an instant home value website. They are far too inaccurate. Imagine what could happen if your profit margin was $50k but the value you based your offer on was $100k higher than the actual value. That could ruin you.

How you analyze your comps depends on what kind of comps you order.

If you order a CMA (Comparative Market Analysis), the agent will do the value analysis for you. That's the easiest, fastest and most accurate way to go.

Below are the most important things to consider when analyzing comps for an accurate value:

Recent Sales: Use the most recent homes sold. Sales within 3 months is best. You can go back as far as 6 to 12 months if necessary when their aren’t many comps. Just keep in mind that, the farther back you go, the less accurate the sold prices will be because of appreciation and market fluctuations.

Location: Use comparables that are within a mile of your house if possible. A half mile is even better. It’s also important that the neighborhood is similar to yours. For example, if your home is of average quality, you wouldn’t want to use comps from an upscale area even if they are within a half mile. Also, if you live in a rural area where their aren’t many comps, you can go outside a mile.

Size: Use comps within 200 to 400 square feet of your house if possible. For larger homes, try to stay within about 10% of square footage.

Age: Use comps that have no more than a 10 year difference in the year built. But, of course, the closer the comps are in age to your house, the better.

Condition: Comparing house condition and construction quality is something that is often overlooked by homeowners and automated house value websites. Real Estate Agents will usually take these differences into consideration when determining your house value. But it's always a good idea to double check all comps to make sure they compare in condition and quality. An easy way to compare condition and quality is to look at the photos attached to the comps and to read the details in each comparable's MLS report.

# of Rooms: Use comps with a similar number of bathrooms, bedrooms and other types of rooms as well as garage spaces.

Lot Size: Also remember to look at the lot sizes of your comps. For instance, if a comparable property has a lot size 3 times the size of yours, it will usually have a higher value. In that case, you may not want to use that property as a comp unless you are short on comps. Your agent may be able to help you make a value adjustment for the difference in lot size.

House Style: If you have enough comps to choose ones with a similar house style to yours (i.e.: Ranch Style, Two Story, Multi-Level, Split Entry, etc.), then it’s a good idea to do so. If not, sometimes you will need to use a comps with a different house style. Your agent can help you decide the difference in value, if any, based on house styles that sell best in your area.

Other Features: Your agent can also help you determine value differences for various house features like a swimming pool, fireplace, granite countertops, wood floors, central air, decks, solar and landscaping among many others.

Choose comps that meet the above criteria and make value adjustments for their differences. That's what is so great about a CMA vs analyzing your own comps, the CMA comes with those value differences already adjusted for you.

A CMA is similar to an appraisal except that the appraiser actually visits the property and also makes adjustments for condition, construction quality, location, view, etc. BPO's(Broker Price Opinion) can be fairly accurate but are costly. A CMA is the closest thing you'll get to an appraisal or a BPO without the cost.

Once you have an accurate value for your property, you can now run your numbers. Then you can choose the best deals based on their potential for profit, the motivation of the seller, how much equity (bargaining room) they have, etc.

Here's an example of a numbers crunch formula:

$150,000 After Repair Value (this example 1,245 sq ft)

- 18,675 Repairs (sq ft x $15) (use $20 or $25 sq ft if the house is more than 30 years old or is a major rehab or is very high end)

- 747 Holding Costs while waiting to resell (sq ft x 15% x 4 mo's)

- 500 Property Taxes & Insurance (4 mo's worth)

- 15,000 Real Estate Agent Fees and Closing Costs to resell (ARV x 10%)

- 5250 Financing Costs (4 mo's interest)

- 1,500 Vacant Insurance (ARV x 1%)

- 30,000 (profit you want to make, ARV x 20%)

= 78,328 Your Maximum Offer

So stop guessing. Get the actual value in the easiest way possible: RealEstateCompsToday.com

If you want to learn more about strategies like these, follow me to stay updated on upcoming posts like:

• Various Ways to Wholesale.
• How to Build a Power Team Fast.
• Maximum Offer Formulas.
• Evaluating Comps and Markets.
• How to Protect Your Earnest Money.
• How to Get Proof of Funds, even for REO's when using hard money.
• How to Use Seller's Questions to Determine Exit Strategy.
• Best Ways to Find Leads, MLS vs FSBO.
• How to Sell Your Deals Quick!
• Deep Due Diligence.
• Making Offers - Contracts - REPC, FSBO.
• Multiple Choice Offers.
• Seller Finance Rentals.
• Creative Financing.
• Remodeling Cost vs ROI, get the most value return for your money.
• How to Do Short Sales.
• All About Tax Liens Investing.
• Rentals, Commercial, Cash Flow Properties.
• Land Development

NOTE: We are not agents. We are a service that helps investors get MLS comps from an investor friendly agent in 1 day, even if you need comps everyday from markets all over the U.S. We work with agents in every market.

Home value websites are instant and convenient. That's why they're so popular. As an investor, you need property value answers quick. Otherwise, you'll be in analysis paralysis and never get an actual deal done.

They can be okay to find out some info on a property when you need it fast.

But how accurate are they to use for a property value when you're investing in a property? Not very. Just do some research online for articles about their accuracy and you'll find more than enough information to support the fact that they aren't accurate at all.

I did a test on my own home using my recent appraisal as the accurate value. Then I compared the values from 7 popular home value websites. I had recently refinanced my home so I had an appraisal and a CMA from my realtor to compare the website values to. Here are the results . . .

$514,651 CMA Before Appraisal

$500,000 Actual Value Confirmed by Appraisal

Automated Home Value Estimation Sites:

• $606,483 Zillow Zestimate - 82% Accurate - $106,483 Potential Loss
• $682,000 Chase Home Value Estimator - 73% Accurate - $182,000 Potential Loss
• $588,078 ForSaleByOwner Pricing Scout - 85% Accurate - $88,078 Potential Loss
• $622,000 Eppraisal.com - 80% Accurate - $122,000 Potential Loss
• $606,259 Trulia Estimate - 82% Accurate - $106,259 Potential Loss
• $700,000 Realtor.com - 71% Accurate - $200,000 Potential Loss
• $718,000 Remax Home Estimate - 70% Accurate - $218,000 Potential Loss

As you can see, there is a huge difference between the instant values for my house but the CMA, done from a human being, a knowledgeable agent who has insight in my area, came the closest.

So, there's really just one question: How important is your real estate investing career to you? Are you willing to gamble on the potential loss of thousands of dollars just to get an instant value?

I know it can sometimes take a while to get comps from an agent. But now there is a faster way. If you can't get good comps from your agent immediately, you can now simply order them online from RealEstateCompsToday.com. It only takes 2 minutes to order and costs 5 bucks.

We have agents in every market in the U.S., even rural areas. We can even run comps on land and commercial properties.

Your order will be immediately given to a local agent who is knowledgeable in the neighborhood market of your subject property. The agent will pull your comps and email them to you within about a day. Real Estate Comps Today will follow through with you and the agent to make sure you receive the very best comps and analysis.

Isn't your investing career worth a day? It could save you thousands of dollars and so much frustration. Now the easy way is also the most accurate way.

What are your opinions on the pro's and con's of Home Value Websites vs MLS Comps from a Realtor in the area? 

Maybe you’ve heard of the marketing tip where a salesperson should never ask a yes or no question.

For instance, “Would you like to by it” is a Yes or No question and often ends with a No. But, “Which one do you like the best? This one or this one? What do you like about it?”, often ends with the customer choosing and option and stating what they like about it. This kind of strategy closes more deals and is well known in the sales and marketing industry.

One day it occurred to me to use this strategy to make offers. I call this strategy the Multiple Choice Offers Strategy.

It worked so well for me the first time I tried it, that I ended up getting 5 offers accepted in about 30 days. And it’s now one of the main strategies I teach.

Here’s how I did it. I started by putting out ads, bandit signs, car decals, direct mail, etc. You know, the usual.

The day that first ad went out, I started getting some phone calls. Promising full market value got people excited. And you’re probably wondering, “How can you make a profit offering full market value?”

How I Can Make a Profit at Full Market Value:

1. First of all, Full Market Value is a relative term. It all depends on what comps you’re using to prove what buyers are willing to pay for a property. It’s my job to do a thorough analysis of the comps. That way, I can help the seller understand my opinion of their house value.

2. My ad says, “Full market value minus repairs.” So, it’s also my job to show the seller what issues the house has and what needs to be done to the property to get it into sellable condition. Then I can discount my offer by the cost of those repairs and maybe also some upgrades.

3. When I submit my multiple choice offers, I encourage the seller to sell the property to me as a For-Sale-By-Owner. This way, I can discount my offer by the amount saved in Realtor commissions and closing costs.

4. And finally, I always encourage the seller to use Seller Financing. I do this by presenting Multiple Choice Offers. I always have my lowest offer as the cash offer, my highest offer as the seller financing offer, and my middle offer as the split seller financing offer (small down payment & seller financing the rest).

Using all of these options not only gives the seller several options to choose from but it also allows me to make a discounted offer. Along with my offer, I also them a numbers analysis that compares the end profit they would make with a full price offer through an agent vs my FSBO Offer.

And I always craft my offer to show the seller a slightly higher profit if they accept my offer rather than a conventional offer through an agent. Look at the figures below to see how I can present the seller with a higher profit than a full price offer through an agent while still leaving myself room for a profit.

Here is an Example Multiple Choice Offer I Made:

• Offer A: $210,000 100% Seller Financing for 3 years.
• Offer B: $195,000 with $15,000 Down and Seller Financing for 2 years of $180,000.
• Offer C: $179,000 all cash now.

Illustration of End Profit, Real Estate Agent vs. our Offer A:

Potential Full Price Offer through a Real Estate Agent - $240,000 – Selling Costs: 6% REA commission ($14,400) + 3% Closing costs ($7,200) + 4 mortgage payments at $2,000 while waiting to sell ($8,000) = $29,600 in selling costs.

$240,000 - Purchase Price

- $34,050 - in selling costs

$210,950 - True Purchase Price after selling costs

-$135,000 - your loan pay-off

$75,400 - your end profit, full price offer through agent

Our Offer A of $212,000 - Full Market Value

$212,000 - Purchase Price at Full Market Value

-$135,000 - your loan pay-off (no selling costs)

$77,000 - your end profit, FSBO Offer Today

Here’s how it all worked out. They were current on their mortgage payments, they had a lot of equity and their house needed no repairs. The husband was being transferred for his job needing to relocate and they needed to sell quickly. That’s why they called me, for a fast sale.

They were hoping to get $249k because their neighbor's house sold for $240k. They shows me an appraisal of $263k. They owed $135k. I showed them that their house would not sell for more than $240k by showing them my lower end comps and showing them why the comps used in their appraisal were too far away in a higher end neighborhood.

After going over my 3 offers above, they countered at $212k all cash now because they saw my logic in the numbers and their end profit after saving agent and closing costs. And they also pointed out that they wanted nothing to do with Seller Financing.

I countered back at $195k all cash now. They countered again at $205k all cash. I countered at $200k all cash now. They said no. I accepted their offer for $205,000 all cash now. My high comps were 247k. There were no repairs needed. I sold within about 60 days at retail for $239k as FSBO, giving me a $34,000 gain. After about $16,000 in selling, holding and closing costs, my end profit was about $18,000.

Now, here's another example of a Multiple Choice Offer I made from that ad:

Offer A: $101,500 100% Seller Financing for 3 years.

Offer B: $95,000 with $5,000 Down and Seller Financing for 2 years of $90,000.

Offer C: $86,500 all cash now

This seller told me he had recently built a small house with a plan to rent it out as a cash flow investment. He didn’t have luck renting it out, so he had rented it to a friend for $500/mo when his mortgage payment was $850/mo (a $350/mo loss). He was about to start school which was going to be expensive, his friend was ready to move out and his wife was threatening divorce if he didn’t sell that house!

After running comps, we could see that the property value was no more than what he owed the bank. He had zero equity (no bargaining room). So, we had to get creative to make room for a profit.

Knowing that we couldn’t offer him less than he owed the bank, we realized the only strategy that made sense for this particular situation was a Seller Finance Rental. Our plan was to make his mortgage payments for several years while we rent the place out, in which time the house value would appreciate while the mortgage balance would decrease, creating room for profit in the end.

The value of the property at the time was about $105,000 and he owed $101,500. Appreciation in the area was about 6%/yr at that time. We projected that would be worth about $118,000 in 2 years and $125,000 in 3 years.

Our rental market research revealed that we would only be able to rent the place out for about $650/mo. Since the place was almost brand new, we wouldn’t have any rehab costs. So we asked that he also pay $200/mo towards the mortgage (hey, a $200/mo loss is better than a $350/mo loss, right?).

This One Worked Out Well in the End:

We knew he wouldn't be able to accept offers B and C because he owed too much and was short on cash. But the beauty of Multiple Choice Offers is that unappealing offers make the other offers look better. That's the whole point.

He ended up accepting our Offer A for full price with 3 years Seller Financing while we rent the place out. He was willing to pay the $200/mo towards the mortgage because it was saving him $150/mo. He was also relieved to turn everything over to someone else and get out from under that house that had been nothing but stress for him.

After about 3 years, we sold that house also for a great profit.

Steps to the Multiple Choice Offers Strategy:

Step 1: Create a Detailed Seller’s Questions Sheet.

Step 2: Put Out the Ad in as many places as you can: “I will buy your house today for full market value minus repairs.”

Step 3: Interview Sellers when they call in. Keep your Seller’s Questions Sheet with you. Get inside the Seller’s head to understand their motivations so you can craft your offer to meet their needs.

Step 4: Preliminary Due Diligence and Analyzing the Deal. This step is one of the most important and requires further explanation.

Doing in-depth research on a property is critical to a successful deal. But the secret to getting more deals done is a quick elimination process. So don’t spend too much time on it until your offer has been accepted.

It’s okay to start with sites like Zillow.com, Trulia.com, Redfin.com, Realtor.com, etc., to get a vague idea of a house’s features, photos, and value. But beware that those sites can be extremely inaccurate.

You can do a simple test to prove it. Do a Google search for: home value websites. Compare the values you get from the various property value estimation sites for the same house. You’ll see how widely the values will differ.

The only way to know what a house is really worth is to get real comps from a local agent and analyze them carefully. The formula for analyzing comps for an accurate house value is a discussion in itself.

I know it's tempting to use those sites because investors typically get held up trying to get a realtor to run their comps. I can help you with that. Just let me know. I always get my comps within a day even when I'm needing comps everyday. It's easy if you know the tricks to it.

* * * If you base your offer on an inaccurate value from an instant house value site, you could lose thousands. Don’t risk your investing career. Use a Realtor for comps!

Once your offer is accepted, you can use your due diligence period to do deeper due diligence to confirm with county records things like how much the seller owes, whether they are current or delinquent on their mortgage loan and more.

This is also when you should have an inspection done. Never skip the inspection. It will reveal many things you didn’t know about the property that will directly affect the profit you make in the end.

Step 5: Visit the Property. Make sure to visit the property and the seller in person to confirm the repairs, the condition of the property and their motivations. While you are there, make sure to take a look at any comps or appraisal the seller has. Then show them your comps (which you have previously analyzed very carefully). Show them all of the details that confirm your property value number.

For example, if your comps are more comparable in size, age, proximity or condition, make sure to point it out. If they have no comps or appraisal, just show them all of the details of the comparable homes in order to help them understand your property value number.

This step will help tremendously with the amount of offers you get accepted.

Step 6: Create and Present Your Multiple Choice Offer. Now is the time to take all of the information you’ve gathered so far to craft several offers that will appeal to the seller as I did in the offer examples above.

Step 7: Email the Sellers a letter explaining the logic of your offer and illustrating numbers crunches that show how they will make as much or more profit from your FSBO Offer vs a Full Price Offer through an agent. Then call them or visit them in person to go over all of the particulars of your multiple offers. If they don't choose one of your offers on the spot, follow up with them a day or 2 later after they've had a chance to think it over.

Using this strategy for the first time, I bought 5 houses in 30 days. Once I started making Multiple Choice Offers like this, I became a much more successful investor.

I'd Love to Hear Your Feedback and Questions about this strategy or others. Please Post!

As investors, we’ve all had those times when we needed a comps report quick and couldn’t get a hold of an agent. But, what if you could just go to a website and order them from a local Realtor anywhere in the U.S. and get them within about a day?

Well now you can. Never again will you be empty handed when you need comps. When you order comps from Real Estate Comps Today, you will always get them, every time, guaranteed.

This is a game changer for investors. RealEstateCompsToday.com does all of the work for you, so you can be more productive and focus on getting those offers made and those deals done.

Created by 2 Sisters who are also real estate investors, speakers and mentors, they saw the need and the demand for this long needed yet simple service and made it a reality.

Just fill out the 2 minute order form and a local agent in the area of the property will email your comps report within about a day. Real Estate Comps Today will personally inspect your comps report and even follow up with you and the agent to make sure you are satisfied and have received only the very best property value analysis.

My Light Bulb Moment. There are many real estate investing strategies for finding deals and making offers. I’ve read them all and tried just about everything.

But also having had a background in sales and marketing, I realized that some of the sales techniques I’d learned over the years, could also be used to find motivated sellers and get offers accepted.

Maybe you’ve heard of the marketing tip where a salesperson should never ask a yes or no question, but should instead give the customer options to choose from.

For instance, “Would you like to by it” vs “Which one do you like the best? This one or this one? What do you like about it?” It’s well known in the sales and marketing industry that getting the customer to answer positively by giving them options to choose from can greatly increase conversions.

One day a light bulb went on in my head when it occurred to me to use this strategy to make offers. I call this strategy the Multiple Choice Offers Strategy.

It worked so well for me the first time I tried it, that I ended up getting 5 offers accepted in about 30 days. And it’s now one of the main strategies I teach.

Here’s how I did it. I started by putting ads on local online classifieds and putting out bandit signs, car decals, business cards, email signatures, direct mail, etc. You know the drill.

The same day that first ad went out, I started getting calls. Stating full market value got people excited. And you’re probably thinking, “How can you make a profit paying full market value?”

Here’s How I Can Make a Profit at Full Market Value:

1. First of all, Full Market Value is a relative term. It depends on what comps you’re using to prove what buyers are willing to pay for a property. It’s my job to do a very thorough  so I can help the seller understand my opinion of the property value.

2. My ad states, “Full market value minus repairs.” So, it’s also my job to show the seller everything that needs to be done to the property to get it into sellable condition. That way I can discount my offer by the cost of the repairs.

3. When I submit my multiple choice offers, I encourage the seller to sell the property to me as a For-Sale-By-Owner. This way, I can discount my offer by the amount saved in broker commissions.

4. And I encourage the seller to use Seller Financing. I do this by presenting Multiple Choice Offers with my cash offer being the lowest offer, my seller financing offer as the highest offer and my split seller financing offer (small down payment & seller financing the rest) as the middle offer.

Using all of these options not only gives the seller several options to choose from but it also allows me to make a discounted offer by showing the them a numbers analysis that compares the end profit they would make with a full price offer through an agent vs my FSBO Offer.

I carefully create my offer to show the seller a slightly higher profit if they accept my offer rather than a conventional offer through an agent.

Here is an Example Multiple Choice Offer I Made:

• Offer A: $210,000 100% Seller Financing for 3 years.
• Offer B: $195,000 with $15,000 Down and Seller Financing for 2 years of $180,000.
• Offer C: $179,000 all cash now.

Here is an Example of the Numbers I Showed This Seller:

Illustration of End Profit, Real Estate Agent vs. our Offer A:

Offer through a Real Estate Agent of $240,000 – Selling Costs: 6% REA commission ($14,400) + 3% Closing costs ($7,200) + 4 mortgage payments at $2,000 while waiting to sell ($8,000) = $29,600 in selling costs.

$240,000 - Purchase Price

- $34,050 - in selling costs

$210,950 - True Purchase Price after selling costs

-$135,000 - your loan pay-off

$75,400 - your end profit

Our Offer A of $212,000 - Full Market Value

$212,000 - Purchase Price at Full Market Value

-$135,000 - your loan pay-off (no selling costs)

$77,000 - your end profit

Here’s how it all worked out. They were current on their mortgage, had a ton of equity and the place needed no repairs. The husband was being transferred and they needed to sell quickly. That’s why they called me, for a fast sale.

They were asking $249k with an appraisal of $263k. They owed $135k. I showed them that their house would not sell for more than $240k by showing them my lower end comps and showing them why the comps used in their appraisal were too far away in a higher end neighborhood.

After going over my 3 offers above, they countered at $212k all cash now because they saw my logic in the numbers and their end profit after saving Realtor costs. And they wanted all cash now, not Seller Financing. I countered at $195k all cash now. They countered again at $205k all cash. I countered at $200k all cash now. They said no. I accepted their offer for $205,000 all cash now. My high comps were 247k. There were no repairs needed. I sold within about 60 days at retail for $239k as FSBO, giving me a $34,000 gain. After about $16,000 in selling, holding and closing costs, my end profit was about $18,000.

Steps to the Multiple Choice Offers Strategy:

Step 1: Create a Detailed Seller’s Questions Sheet.

Step 2: Put Out the Ad in as many places as you can: “I will buy your house today for full market value minus repairs.”

Step 3: Interview Sellers when they call in. Keep your Seller’s Questions Sheet with you. Get inside the Seller’s head to understand their motivations so you can craft your offer to meet their needs.

Step 4: Preliminary Due Diligence and Analyzing the Deal. This step is one of the most important and requires further explanation.

Doing in-depth research on a property is critical to a successful deal. But the secret to getting more deals done is a quick elimination process. So don’t spend too much time on it until your offer has been accepted.

It’s okay to start with sites like Zillow.com, Trulia.com, Redfin.com, Realtor.com, etc., to get a vague idea of a house’s features, photos, and value. But beware that those sites can be extremely inaccurate.

You can do a simple test to prove it. Do a Google search for: home value websites. Compare the values you get from the various property value estimation sites for the same house. You’ll see how widely the values will differ. 

The only way to know what a house is really worth is to get real comps from a local agent and analyze them carefully. The formula for analyzing comps for an accurate house value is a discussion in itself.

Fortunately, there's now an easy way for investors to get MLS comps from a local Realtor without the hassle. Just go to and fill out the 2 minute order form and you’ll get your comps within about a day. It’s only 5 bucks and will give you an accurate property value.

If you base your offer on an inaccurate value from an instant house value site, you could lose thousands. Don’t risk your investing career. Use a Realtor for comps!

Once your offer is accepted, you can use your due diligence period to do deeper due diligence to confirm with county records things like how much the seller owes, whether they are current or delinquent on their mortgage loan and more.

This is also when you should have an inspection done. Never skip the inspection. It will reveal many things you didn’t know about the property that will directly affect the profit you make in the end.

Step 5: Visit the Property. Make sure to visit the property and the seller in person to confirm the repairs, the condition of the property and their motivations. While you are there, make sure to take a look at any comps or appraisal the seller has. Then show them your comps (which you have previously analyzed very carefully). Show them all of the details that confirm your property value number.

For example, if your comps are more comparable in size, age, proximity or condition, make sure to point it out. If they have no comps or appraisal, just show them all of the details of the comparable homes in order to help them understand your property value number.

This step will help tremendously with the amount of offers you get accepted.

Step 6: Create and Present Your Multiple Choice Offer. Now is the time to take all of the information you’ve gathered so far to craft several offers that will appeal to the seller as I did in the offer examples above.

Step 7: Email the Sellers a letter explaining the logic of your offer and illustrating numbers crunches that show how they will make as much or more profit from your FSBO Offer vs a Full Price Offer through an agent. Then call them or visit them in person to go over all of the particulars of your multiple offers. If they don't choose one of your offers on the spot, follow up with them a day or 2 later after they've had a chance to think it over.

These are the steps I used to buy 5 houses in 30 days. Once I started making Multiple Choice Offers like this, I became a much more successful investor.