All Forum Posts by: Tom Vanderlinden

Tom, I have some good news for you: More deals are going to fall through. No, I'm not being sarcastic or rude. Why do I say this is good news? 

A few reasons. First, some of these may not have been the right deal for you. Example, this one appraised short. Being underwater on a property as a new investor in this economy wouldn't be fun. Perhaps one of the others would have come through, and been a headache for you. So many things can happen. There are instances where the deal you did NOT do is better for you. 

Also, you've built so much experience in just the past few months, from trying to close deals, and having things fall through. I know it doesn't feel like it, but sit down and write a lesson from each deal - something you learned for the future, or would do differently. Now, there are some things you can do better in the future. You're stronger as a result of these painful experiences. 

I have some more good news, this time actual good news: You're going to close a deal. If you keep taking consistent, smart action, it is going to happen. What's more, if you learn more, and keep growing as you seem to be, you'll close more. 

I'll share my own story: First deal I ever tried (a duplex, with a close friend), fell through shortly after offer was accepted and we were opening escrow). Next duplex fell through after a 3 month escrow (seriously) and plenty of stress. 

Took a pause for a while and got going again, and closed another one after looking at a bunch more. Thought I learned a lot. Yet, to complete my most recent deal, had another escrow fall through and a few more that wasted a lot of time and went nowhere. The point is, this is a constant in this business, but you get better at sniffing out the BS and avoiding the traps, as time goes along. I am still a pretty new investor by any standard, but I've improved, and no doubt you will too. Keep on trucking. 

 Thanks for sharing your experience with me. That's why I posted on the forum, hoping this wasn't uncommon and I wasn't a rare statistic. I'm hearing now how common this is, especially when you're starting out. What can I say other than I thought it would be easier, but experience is the best teacher. That's why I feel like I'm learning more through doing than I was reading. But I guess the struggles are what teaches you the most.

@Tom Vanderlinden don't worry about deals falling through, especially if it didn't appraise.  Just stay consistent, if you are looking for deals, review deals, 1 a day, 5 a day, whatever works for you.  But I'd say to start with one, and track it, and stay consistent.

At 1 a day, thats 365 deals looked at in a year.  If you make an offer on 10% of those, thats 36.5 offers, and if you get 5% of those offers accepted thats 1.8 deals a year.

So let me get this straight. You're complaining about a deal, where you would have paid 45k more than it was worth, fell through? Did you actually read what you wrote? You also said that if it keeps up, you wouldn't get to 50-100 doors...like many other REI?

Here's your problem.  Not that these deals fell through (thank God), ot's that you're so focused on getting properties that you're making bad offers.  Stop focusing on how many properties you have, or want.  Start focusing on how many positive dollars you will make...and make offers ONLY on properties that will generate those dollars....and always remember this.

                                        Sometimes, the best deals you make, are the ones you don't.

@Steve K. I had the same thought.  Won't the sellers be concerned it will happen again with the next potential buyer?  Perhaps they are hoping based on the type / condition / price that they will attract a cash buyer that will not need to obtain an appraisal.  But this should at a minimum give you some leverage if you are inclined to pursue.  I would be highly skeptical and risk adverse to buy something for more than the appraised value though.  Especially if you are in fact buying at a discount like everyone tries to do, then even if the appraisal was high, I wouldn't expect it to come in lower than the offer price.  Good luck, you got this far, ensure your numbers make sense and keep taking action!    

@Tom Vanderlinden the sellers didn’t want to negotiate purchase price at all based on the appraisal?

Once you get your first property , and deal with difficult tenants, repairs, contractors, etc , you wont be rushing to get properties that werent a good deal from the beggining.