All Forum Posts by: Maxwell Lee

Hey Richard, I think I saw the listing you're referring to...or at least something similar. Probably in Springfield, right?

Based on the numbers you've provided it seems like an amazing deal...what am i missing?? Are you anticipating a lot of repairs? I'm with you, go in low and leave room to negotiate. If it's one of the listings I'm thinking of, I was really intrigued by the cash flow but ultimately didn't feel like taking on the headache of likely repairs and tenant issues.

hey guys, as always thanks for the advice. Funny enough the property returned to the MLS two days ago. They didn't contact me but I saw it again and had my agent immediately resubmit my offer.

Today they came back with the same multiple offer scenario, lol. My question now is whether I should be concerned that there's something fishy going on. I'm prepared to be a bit more aggressive and actually submit my best offer, and I figure if inspections don't go so well I can ask for concessions just to feel them out. But is it possible that they just aren't happy with the offers and are trying to just play us bidders against each other until they get what they want? What could be the angle here?

I welcome all input. Thanks!

Update:

Unfortunately the sellers rejected our offer of $22.2K which was 7K over the listing. We would have been happy at up to $28K but decided to submit an offer at the middle of our range. Perhaps we should have been more aggressive but oh well, we're still learning! I'm curious to see what it ends up closing for.

Hey @Jeff Riber! I've been meaning to post an update...thanks for your interest!

Only four of us met up at the town center: Jay - Seasoned investor and wholesaler in the area. Raymond - Recently returned to the city and looking to get started in all kinds of REI strategies. Kelly and myself - We're pretty new to REI (Kelly has two accidental rental properties) but looking to do buy and hold and flips when appropriate.

The meeting lasted about an hour and mostly consisted of Jay sharing anecdotes, experiences, and expertise with the rest of us. Many thanks to him for being so open and helpful.

We'll probably try to organize another meeting in the next month. Unfortunately, it will again have to be around the holidays but I think we can do better than the night before Thanksgiving! I propose Thu Dec 26, Mon Dec 30, or Thu Jan 2. Let's see if there's any interest!

Thanks folks! We've made a decision, will be back to let you know what the seller's decision is. Hopefully it all works out.

Thanks to everyone for the advice! I think it's good to hear over and over again so it's pounded into my subconscious. I know I shouldn't be emotionally involved but I like to win and I do think this is a very rare opportunity. (New to the game but not new to the marketplace)

I'll stick to the numbers, but what do you do when there's such a wide range between what it could go for and what it should go for? I think I can easily overbid and turn it into a comfortable profit, but I don't really want to overbid. Granted, that range is only about 10-15K, but that's a substantial amount relative to asking price/current value.

Thanks, Elizabeth. I'll look into the earnest deposit, could be a leg up although my cynicism just makes me think that all the offers are for cash at above asking. We did offer a quick close, although it was still contingent upon inspection.

Haha, thanks John! I hear what you're saying but that's just so much easier said than done for me. I'm cheap and would rather not pay a penny more than necessary! Do I really offer double the asking price when the other offers might be nowhere near that? I have no idea! This area is really tough to comp.

Just did some more research and found that it went back to the bank (Deutsche Bank) at county auction in July, and DB's judgment was 126K. Obviously selling at ~15K is a huge loss.

Thanks again for the reply!

Brand new investor, here. Although I'm in tune with my local market I never quite felt the urge to actually start investing in properties until very recently.

I had been scouring various resources for about a week and a half with a handful of leads when out of nowhere something went up on MLS that blew my mind! I immediately wanted to see it and almost certainly put in an offer at full asking price, so the next day my agent and I were there at the very minute the listing said it would be available for walk-through, and we had the full offer in just a few business hours later.

The property is in a pretty bad area...feels like a 2 out of 5 in terms of safety and security, would be a 1 if not for the fact that most of the surrounding lots sit empty and demolished. The structure itself is a decent (though completely stripped) duplex. Why do I want it so badly then? It's a goldmine for speculators, as it sits just 4-5 blocks away from one of the hottest gentrification projects we've ever seen in this city. Over $100 million in private construction happening within .5 miles, and the neighborhood is set to be completely transformed in 18 months. The assumption, therefore, is that once all of those projects are complete, the surrounding blocks will be safer and perhaps a few years later those will be gentrified as well. Bottom line: I was very shocked to see anything in this neighborhood listed, but it's an REO so I guess that makes sense. I don't want to bore you all with all the other details on the area, but those are the basics.

So what has happened? My fears have been realized and the listing agent has responded, almost immediately, with a multiple offer notification. They want the best and highest offer, with a deadline about 24 hours from now, and I just don't know where my final bid should land. UGH! This kinda stinks for a first time investment.

Original asking price was 15.2K, I think this property is still a safe investment up to 30K (agent thinks it will be worth 50K as is after the nearby construction is complete, and also thinks it could do $1200/month immediately after extensive repairs) but clearly I wouldn't want to invest too much more than I have to. I hate this multiple offer scenario! Clearly this is a hot property if they've got multiple offers less than three full days after listing...

One last note...sinking cash into this one won't necessarily affect our ability to invest in other properties, so that's not really a concern. I just don't want to regret my decision haha. Any advice is welcome and appreciated. Thanks!!

talked to Kelly and it seems a casual coffee shop meetup might be best. So since Jax is so huge we're thinking either Starbucks at SJTC or Three Layers in Springfield. We'll eave it up to a vote by everyone who plans to come...