MLS offers

[Will Mitchell]

Hi. My question is this. My money is low, I don't have money for marketing yet (direct mail campaigns), so I am cruising the properties that are listed. I know deals can be done by putting lots of offers in with the help of an agent. I was told by a mentor to put at least 25 offers in a week, i was told by another close friend/investor to have an agent write 100 offers a week or you (I'm sure he was exaggerating). I'm not sure how the process goes. Let's say I put in 10 offers a week off the MLS. Do I have to visit each one with a agent or contractor in order to get the right repair numbers BEFORE making the offer? Wouldn't that be tiring? I don't understand. Please help.

[Mike H.]

I don't understand either. As a beginner, what point is there in just putting in hundreds of offers without even seeing the house? What if your offer actually gets accepted? How do you know if its a good deal or not without seeing the house.

Thats not to say I haven't done it myself. I have definitely put in offers without seeing the house. But typically its because I have an idea of the house based on the age and I've seen enough to have a pretty good idea what the costs may run.  And sometimes, I'm honestly going fishing, and just so happen to get lucky and get it at a crazy low price.

But I still need to see the house first. Haven't backed out of any yet. But if you're putting in 100's of offers and start backing out of them all the time, you're going to find yourself on somebody's blacklist somewhere real quick.

Not only that, but getting into houses is how you learn all the crazy problems that houses may have.....

So, no, I would not recommend putting in 100's of offers every week on houses you've never been in.  I would find a way to filter that list down some based on price, days on market, etc and then go take a look at those. Then put in the offers.

After awhile, you may learn the market real well and then you may be able to get by with putting in some offers sight unseen.  But to do that on all your offers and on that many just makes no sense.