i made a post regarding a deal in which i put an offer on. it turns out my offer was the lowest so it probably will not be accepted (there were 6 other offers besides mine). on the contract i submitted, we were taking the house AS IS and waiving the inspection. i thought this would help give us some leverage in case we did not have the highest offer. i’d like to know some other ways in which you can present an offer that will help make your contract seem more enticing.
Help us understand the offer and who you’re dealing with i.e. seller, bank, etc.
hi there!
this post wasn’t geared towards that situation primarily, but more of a general question. for sake of using my situation as an example, here it goes:
-house listed on the market which was heading to foreclsoure (in 60 days i believe…thats what the drunk homeowner said the night we came to look at it)
-home is in a very nice area (avg homes $375k-$425k)
-home needs everything…borderline knockdown but foundation and structure still ok … so in essence a complete rehab
-asking price $215, we offered $180 AS IS waiving inspection
apparently we were the 7th or 8th offer and came in the lowest. supposively other offers were higher than the asking price.
hope this helps
ryan
To make your offer appear stronger you can:
(1) Waive the inspection (as you did)
(2) Include a copy of your financing preapproval
(3) Include a large check as a down payment
(4) Offer a short escrow close
(5) Pay cash
Keith
- check
- need to get one of these in the future (although my father was fronting the cash from the equity on on house)
- will should have done this, will keep in mind for future
- we offered closing on whatever terms they preferred
- check
thanks Keith!
ryanpal,
I don’t know how you do your deals but I don’t make offers. I only make deals. If you’re dealing directly with the seller you have a lot more options then you do with a bank.
At the same time I only do deals that come to me. I don’t knock on doors and all the jazz. I saw a gun once and that was enough of that for me. This business has a big enough return that you can do it very successfully through marketing channels and then mostly over the phone.
However if I was going to knock on a door I would get the seller sat at a table, understand their pain and what their looking for, then build a deal that meets those needs. You’d be amazed I know people that have put deals together for trades. And that’s because it’s not about the money most of the time. I’ve heard of plane tickets, Harley’s and a bunch of other things being traded for large amounts of equity. So did an find out what would motivate them in a positive direction. Then crank up the negative and have them visualize the positive and snap.
interesting response smaxor, the deal i describe above would have been my first.
to elaborate a little on what you wrote. my intentions now are to in fact door knock on preforeclosures. i do plan on marketing, but i feel this is what is best for me at the current moment.
“I only do deals that come to me”…sounds like you have a good marketing strategy setup. mind sharing a little bit? i’m trying to take what I’ve learned and come up with my own unique approach.
thanks all.
Ryan
Congrats on being in the business and pursuing it first off.
My suggestion for knocking on the door of pre-foreclosures.
Mail them a letter with a bolt or life saver in it first explaining you and your company. Then send one two days later and then two days after that. Follow it up with a phone call, they probably won’t talk with you but they might. When you call you can say I’m the guy that sent you the [whatever you put in the envelope]. After the call send a couple postcards. Make sure you make them generic we buy houses with your branding. Don’t ever send someone a postcard with the word foreclosure mentioned on it, everyone can see that. Now is when I’d go knock on the door. They know who you are and will have a comfort level with you at this point. There is easier ways but that’s the cheapest I’ve found.
Always remember you’re a problem solver not just there to buy a property. First thing I always do is compliment their property and ask them how they ended up where they are. There’s always a story that goes with it. Once you can connect with them and truly listen and understand that story, you can really get somewhere. I’ve had people that didn’t care what the house was worth they just wanted to get their children back. I’d say well if I could get you a lawyer that would be able to help you with that would you be interested? Then the same 5k I was offering them that wasn’t close to enough now seemed like a lot. Because they couldn’t get an atty and now I’ve got them what they wanted, helped them and created some work for a friend of mine. It’s always about their problem and how you solve it, it’s very rarely just about the money. That’s why I say “I make deals; I don’t make offers!”
Do whatever you’re comfortable with just be carful out there. I don’t like having guns pulled on me or big dogs chasng after me trying to bite ass. No Thank You!
Happy Hunting