How many houses is too many?

Real Estate Investor · Bourbonnais , IL · Member since 2012 · 257 posts · 16 votes

Hello everyone, please forgive me if this question has been answered before. As I'm reading and listening to the podcast it is recommended that you look at at least 40-50 houses before you make any offers. While I understand the reasoning behind this I'm just curious as to how many houses are you going to go look at before the realtor decides not to work with you anymore? I live in a smaller area and I pretty sure I'm going to run into the same realtors after a while.

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Kevin Siedlecki

Investor · Madison, CT · Member since 2014 · 710 posts · 458 votes

@Joe D. I've never heard that number before, and it seems very, very high. If you're doing some analysis up-front, only visiting properties that have a reasonable chance of working for your target ROI, you should be making an offer as soon as you see something that works.

You're right that dragging a realtor to 40 or 50 showings without buying anything is not going to make you any friends or give you a good reputation. My only guess is that 40-50 number comes from how many properties investors see, on average, before making a purchase, but that might be just looking on zillow and eliminating it because you know the numbers aren't going to work.

My number is closer to 10, and shrinking as I get more experience and know what to expect in certain neighborhoods. I've actually made an offer on four of the last five properties I've visited. That doesn't mean that I've bought all of them. I was outbid on two, about to close on one, and hoping to get the offer accepted on the most recent one.

If you've been learning and are ready to go, don't let a silly "rule" like this keep you from making an offer. Find something that is going to work for you and jump in!

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Joe VilleneuvePro Member
Plymouth, MI · Member since 2013 · 13k+ posts · 19k+ votes
9y
Originally posted by @Wells Lange:

You can analyze a house without going to look at it. Only look at the good prospects
Just like @Wells said. You can make offers based on your numbers, and then go visit the properties after you have an accepted offer. This way you're only visiting the properties that you like, and have a chance of getting. You waste a lot less time that way, both your's and your REA's.
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Jordan MoorheadBusiness Member
Real Estate Agent · Austin, TX · Member since 2015 · 5k+ posts · 3k+ votes
9y
I looked at about that many before I really had a good idea of what I was looking for and in what area. It helped a lot to see that many different houses in different neighborhoods of my city.
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David Krulac
Mechanicsburg, PA · Member since 2013 · 3k+ posts · 2k+ votes
9y
@Joe D.
I've even heard look at 100 houses. I don't buy it. After 900+ deal, I don't look at 100, 40 or 30 houses in order to buy one. First of all with online sources including MLS and sites like Zillow, you can get lots of information and often see pictures of the inside without leaving home.
You do need to know value in order to evaluate whether a property is a deal or not. You also need to know what rehab costs are going to be. Then if a property meets your personal criteria for area, price, value and amount of rehab, then it becomes a candidate to look at.
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